BATFE

I realized I'd misread the court's docket: there were two judgments entered, one still sealed, the other redacted and unsealed. So here's the latter one. Pretty excoriating. Read the footnotes, too.

The court finds in Dobyns' favor, says that the BATF defense witnesses (who were all highly involved in Fast and Furious, BTW) lied on the stand, that their conduct toward Dobyns was "reprehensible." They tried to frame him for the arson of his house, knowing that this was false.

In fn. 25, the court notes that an ATF attorney blocked a reopening of the arson investigation, telling people that it would hurt this civil case (i.e., show that Dobyns was innocent of the arson), and that she covered that up from the court.

The final fn. explains why the judge ordered the judgment served on the Attorney General, the Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Office of Inspector General. He directs the clerk to call their attention to fn. 25, and says that he will put off disciplining the attorney until he sees what Justice is going to do to them.

Got into the Court of Claims docket-- here's the ruling (pdf) in which the Court accuses the Department of Justice attorneys of having committed a fraud on the Court. That's the document which the Court recently ordered unsealed. The uppermost entry is sealed, but from the language -- "Until further order, the Clerk of Court shall not accept filings" -- suggests it's the order that the nine DoJ and ATF attorneys were banned from filing further pleadings in the case. It's a rather startling sanction -- get out of my court, NOW!

The judgment (the order ruling that Plaintiff won) is still sealed. But it must be pretty explosive. Here's the Court docket for that time period. Notice right after entering the judgment, the Court orders that copies of the judgment be served on the Attorney General, the DOJ Inspector General (responsibility to prevent fraud, waste and abuse) and the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility (charged with investigating ethics violations). I've never seen a court order anything like that.

He's the agent who infiltrated the Hell's Angels, had BATF thoroughly backstab him, and sued the agency. Much of the court files were sealed, but were recently unsealed. Here's the local news story on what the reporter found in the formerly sealed files:

The judge accused the government attorneys of perpetrating "a fraud on the court."

Dobyns' house was burned, and he argued it was arson, carried out by Hell's Angels, and successful because BATF had blown his cover and denied him protection. It turns out that a Justice Dept. attorney in his civil case told BATF not to reopen the investigation of the arson, lest its finding help Dobyns in his suit against BATF. That was concealed from the judge until the trial.

""An ATF agent who testified in this case may have been threatened by another witness during the trial." Justice Department attorneys ordered the agent not to report the threat to the court or he would face repercussions, [Judge] Allegra said."

When the judge entered his ruling, he ordered that the seven Justice attorneys who had handled the civil case were not to file any further documents in it -- essentially, they were banned from the court.

Dobyns' attorney complained that he had been under "extreme surveillance for the last sixty days, both fixed and moving..." and that his house and car had been broken into, although no property was taken.

A former BATF agent who testified for Dobyns attested that he, too, was followed after he left the attorney's office.

This is DOJ's Watergate... or worse. Attorneys and agency officials concealing evidence, secretly threatening witnesses, agency surveillance of attorneys and witnesses. All over a civil lawsuit -- can you imagine what they'd do over something big?

David Codrea has the story. The BATF hierarchy terminated Agent Vince Cefalu after he exposed illegal wiretapping. (The grounds for the firing were essentially "telling the truth while under oath"). The District Court settlement is that he will be reinstated, allowed to retire, negative references will be deleted from his record, and the government will pay attorneys' fees.

His book outlines his work. It's likely the most dangerous undercover work of which I've ever heard: he was infiltrating a large gang to whom murder was a casual matter, and he got full membership by faking the murder of a rival gang member. Then his agency abandoned him, let his new false ID become known, and when his house was destroyed (and wife and kids nearly killed) in an arson fire, backstabbed him with suggestions that he might have done it himself.

The proposal is being floated by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). I assume it's focusing upon the enforcement operations, presently in Justice. There may be a good case for transferring the industry operations to Commerce, as I heard proposed in the 1980s. BATF started out in Treasury only because the NFA was passed as nominally a tax measure. Commerce has historically dealt with regulated industries, and isn't famous for causing them problems.

With a proposal like this, I'd expect most of the agents to be transferred, but much of the management would be laid off, as redundant with that in the receiving agency -- which might benefit everyone.

From today's hearings before Issa's committee. B. Todd Jones, the new head of BATFE, is testifying:

ISSA: Thank you, Director Jones.

And I too want to reiterate the importance of the work that the men and women of the ATF do. And how much we appreciate the many who take a risk to do the right thing in the right way.

Let me go through a couple of questions, no surprise, the first one is a little related to Fast and Furious. Everybody at Department of Justice, from yourself to the attorney general, is living under the specter of Fast and Furious and how it discredited the men and women who do these jobs otherwise right.

Just to make the record clear, was anyone fired as a result of Fast and Furious?

JONES: Mr. Chairman, I can say publicly in this forum that everyone involved at ATF and the chain of command has either been disciplined or is no longer with the agency. ISSA: OK.

But, the answer of, fired, is no. Is that correct?

It's a yes or no -- it really is, Todd.

JONES: As a result of the inspector general's report, the answer is no.

ISSA: OK, so no one was fired. Some chose to retire. But let's go to a particular individual of interest, William Newell. The I.G. recommended he be removed, but in a settlement we have learned that he was demoted from SES [Senior Execute Service, which to be fair pays very well] to GS-13 [which pays nicely, but not very well, depending upon the "step"].

Did you approve that settlement?

JONES: Mr. Chairman, we have provided, in great detail to the committee, in a confidential document, the processes that we followed internally following the release of the I.G.'s report. It outlines, with some particularity, all of the individuals that were identified in that report and the actions taken.

I am not at liberty, in this public forum, to get into detail...

ISSA: Director -- director, you're here pursuant to a subpoena specifically because Congress does not afford you that choice on the Privacy Act by the statute itself.

But, more importantly, we know what occurred.

My question simply was one that you can answer. It has nothing to do with privacy. Did you make that decision?

JONES: The process at ATF involves professional responsibility board...

ISSA: Director, I understand. I'm only asking, did you influence or have an input into that call of his not being fired, his continuing to draw a paycheck and eventually retire at his high pay as an SES? [Federal retirement, under the old system anyway, is calculated on your "high three" years of employment salary]

JONES: I did not.

ISSA: You did not. Did your number two have that input?

JONES: The process involves the bureau deciding official and the ultimate decision maker is the deputy director, with appeal to me, should the employee not be satisfied when it comes to...

ISSA: Well, you were satisfied, and the number two made the call. Is that fair to say for the public record?

JONES: That's fair to say.

ISSA: OK. Similarly, the professional review board proposed that Hope MacAllister receive a 14-day suspension, which I consider pretty minor. This was reduced to a letter of reprimand. Would that also have gone through your deputy?

JONES: Again, Mr. Chair, the process is pretty well delineated in terms of the rights of the employees to grieve and the ultimate decision being made with my involvement with the senior executive service being a little different than anyone who is not a member of the SES ranks.

ISSA: OK, the professional review board proposed a David Voth be demoted to a non-supervisory special agent position. In settlement, he was demoted. Again, that would have been the same process you're alluding to.

JONES: There is a process, and it was followed.

ISSA: OK, so MacAllister, Voth, and Newell -- none of them were fired. All of them received certainly less than what the American people would expect.

Right here. He's one of the whistleblower agents. In his case he spent years infiltrating the Hell's Angels -- then ATF, for reasons unknown, let his personal data become public. Credible death threats followed, without ATF giving him any security. His house was burned down, and ATF tried to pin it on him.

"Today U.S. Court of Claims Judge Francis Allegra opened the closing argument phase of my lawsuit by making the statements that he was the "finder of fact" and "decider of law" in this matter. He went on to say that after three weeks of trial (June and July 2013) his assessment of ATF's treatment of me was "wretched", their acts were "purposeful", derived out of "professional jealousy" and "simply spiteful."

Judge Allegra went on to say that during trial, witnesses testifying for the government had answered questions in his courtroom with "less than candor". That is a tactful way of saying they committed perjury, or for the rest of us laymen - they lied.

This was before the attorney's even spoke."

Sounds like the government attorney then went on the offensive... doesn't sound like good tactical judgment to me.

UPDATE: as far as media coverage -- and understand, Dobyns was a lifelong Tucsonan, the trial was held here, and the house was burned here -- the local newspaper ran one article, with no coverage of the judge's remarks before oral argument (which was open to the public).

Here. I note that the letter is trimmed to only include "Sample 1," presumably because that's what they're selling, and the other two samples may have been found to be "firearms."

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, documents and rulings such as this are supposed to be public, not just reflected in a letter to one person. Any general doctrines of, in this case, how much finishing it takes to make an item legally a "firearm" should be published in the Federal Register and then in the Code of Federal Regulations. Specific rulings (rubbing your belly and saying this is or isn't a firearm) should be in the agency reading room (these days an online one) so that the public can see and be guided.

Ares got a temporary restraining order forbidding the raid; the Dept of Justice filed an ex parte motion (ex parte = the other isn't given notice or opportunity to oppose) modifying the order so that it did not prevent criminal investigations, which of course meant it forbade nothing. Then they raided.

Summary here. Essentially, Ares makes "80% receivers." A receiver starts out as raw material -- steel, or here polymer. Everyone can agree that's not a receiver. At the end, it is a finished receiver that, with the appropriate parts attached, can fire. We can all agree that that is a receiver. But at what point between the two does it go from being in one legal status to being in the other?

The industry understanding (and I emphasize understanding) has been that the line is crossed when the future receiver is 80% complete. But this is one area where BATF rulings, if any, are kept private, and never published as a regulation. This violates the Administrative Procedure Act (which requires that general rules for the public be published as regulations -- you cannot have a rule that the public must comply with, and keep it secret) and allows a little of wiggle room for "our position is" or "our position has always been."

"Attkisson, who has been with CBS News for two decades, had grown frustrated with what she saw as the network's liberal bias, an outsized influence by the network's corporate partners and a lack of dedication to investigative reporting, several sources said. She increasingly felt like her work was no longer supported and that it was a struggle to get her reporting on air."

A Federal Court of Claims judge calls the government's conduct "disturbing" and "wrenching". There are other reports that the judge said it was the worst case he'd seen in all his years on the bench.

Agent Jay Dobyns spent years infiltrating the Hell's Angels, until his cover was blown and he started getting death threats from folks whose threats mean something. He'd fallen into disfavor, and BATF did nothing. An arson attack burned his home ... and the agency tried to frame him for it. The trial revealed an email where one supervisor emailed another about hiding information from higher level management, and assured the other that "I can hide the ball with the best of them."

Here's more on the informant. Jailed in 43 States (that must be some sort of a record), claimed to have murdered 29 people, arrested for assaulting a lady, then threatened to torture and kill her parents in front of her ... when he was released on probation, the local police were issued a bulletin warning about him as a risk to officer safety.

The trial court refused to dismiss the suit, seeking records, brought by Issa's committee. Holder's attorneys had objected on grounds of Executive Privilege, which traditionally shields documents giving advice rather than revealing facts. "This is why we should run guns to Mexican drug cartels" would be protected, but "The Arizona US Attorney is running guns to the cartels" would not be.

Normally, you can't appeal an "interlocutory" ruling, one made during the case, but which is not a final judgment. Denial of a motion to dismiss fits under that. Appeals courts want to see the case when it is finished, all packaged up, as it were.

There are a few ways around that. One is to ask the appeals court to order the trial judge to make a particular ruling -- but that is utterly within its discretion, and it can deny the motion without any reason, and without giving one. The other is to ask the trial court to certify a purely legal question to the appeals court; "tell me what the law is, so I can proceed." I haven't seen that done in a purely Federal action (I've seen it done where a Federal court certifies an issue of State law to the State Supreme Court, and asks it to interpret its law for guidance of the Federal court). That's what is being done here.

Opinion here. There is a defense known as "outrageous government conduct," which (as the opinion notes) requires truly outrageous action. Here, BATF hired an informant to cruise the tougher bars and try to recruit people to stage a home invasion of a mythical drug stash house full of a mythical amount of cocaine. Once he recruited a team, they were arrested for conspiracy to possess cocaine for purpose of sale, and for conspiracy to use a firearm in a drug transaction. They were convicted and appeal.

The court split 2-1. The majority finds this is not sufficiently outrageous. Judge Noonan dissents (p. 36), I think rather persuasively. The stash house and its drugs were a governmentally-created fiction. Defendants were recruited to act out the script. The informant was not told to seek out people who'd done this before or seemed predisposed to do it. The amount of drugs (which increases the sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines) was likewise a fiction.

He cites Judge Posner's observation that a reverse sting like this, to the extent it deters crime, has the paradoxical effect of making it safer to operate drug stash houses, and that drug distributors would probably be willing to pay the government to run these stings.

"Massively involved in the manufacture of the crime, the ATF’s actions constitute conduct disgraceful to the federal government. It is not a function of our government to entice into criminal activity unsuspecting people engaged in lawful conduct; not a function to invent a fiction in order to bait a trap for the innocent; not a function to collect conspirators to carry out a script written by the government. As the executive branch of our government has failed to disavow this conduct, it becomes the duty of the judicial branch to refuse to accept these actions as legitimate elements of a criminal case in a federal court."

UPDATE: As the opinion notes, the informant urged the guy he was dealing with to recruit others. There was probably a reason behind this beyond maximizing the number of defendants. A Federal conspiracy charge requires proof that at least two people genuinely agreed to commit a crime. The informant doesn't count -- he has no intention to commit a crime. So he needs to recruit at least two others, so they can have a conspiracy.

Agent David Dodson has written a book on the subject, and ATF HQ is is trying to block its publication. Most agencies have some power over current employees publishing on their duties, if only to ensure they don't reveal confidential sources or tactics, but blocking an entire book is something I've never heard of being done.

On the other hand, before F&F I never heard of an agency committing acts of war against another republic, either.

"Among the screw-ups and failures uncovered by a Journal Sentinel investigation: Agents hired a brain-damaged man to promote the store and set up drug and gun deals, then turned around and arrested him on federal counts. Three government-owned guns, including a machine gun, were stolen and the undercover storefront was ripped off of $40,000 in merchandise. The machine gun remains missing.

In the end, authorities arrested four of the wrong people and three were charged — including a man who was in federal prison at the time of the sale. Those charges were quickly dismissed, with two cases dropped the same day charges were filed.

Now prosecutors have dropped charges against defendants in three cases that hinged on confidential informants."

I recall from somewhere that the Special Agent in Charge is being transferred to a similar post in Arizona, to replace a guy relieved in the wake of Operation Fast and Furious. So Lord Cardigan is being replaced by George Custer. No, that's not fair to Custer, who had a good Civil War career.

Clue to local authorities: when a Federal agency has jurisdiction, and it's a big case that will draw publicity but they hand it to you .... that's right up there with an email from a guy who says he's a Nigerian bank president, has embezzled $10 million, and would like to wire it to you. They have a grudge against the guy, but know they have no case.

"Instead of requiring an analyst to manually search around for your personal information, the database should “obtain exact matches from partial source data searches” such as social security numbers (or even just a fragment of one), vehicle serial codes, age range, “phonetic name spelling,” or a general area where your address is located. Input that data, and out comes your identity, while the computer automatically establishes connections you have with others."

It is hard to describe the ways in which its article is wrong or misleading.

"The number of gun dealers has increased 16% since 2004..." 16% in nine years ... and before that it fell by, I forget the precise percentage, but something like 50-60% in the decade before that.

"The report found violations of record-keeping rules are up 276% since 2004, but the number of firearms licenses revoked is down 43%." I thought the point was that the law wasn't being sufficiently enforced? It sounds like there are a lot more minor citations, since the article concedes, "Although license revocations are down, the number of other enforcement actions, such as warning letters and suspensions, is almost four times higher."

"Unless inspectors find multiple violations that would require a reinspection, a 1986 federal law bans the agency from making more than one unannounced inspection every year." No, it can also inspect anytime a firearm is "traced" to a dealer.

Which itself is important. As one former Treasury official pointed out to me, while tracing guns to a dealer doesn't prove he was involved in sale to criminals, the fact that no guns have been traced to a dealer makes it very probably that he is not involved in sales to criminals, even unintentionally. If a dealer hasn't even a tiny link to crime (the firearms he sells aren't even stolen and recovered) then there is zero reason to inspect him. Who cares how well he keeps his paperwork?

1) All three rifles found at the scene appear to have been Fast and Furious guns. Of the six guns found on the killers when they were arrested, one traced to Fast and Furious.

2) There are references to guns being given to ATF "CIs" -- "cooperating individual" or "confidential informant," meaning informants. This suggests that letting cartel straw men buy guns wasn't enough, ATF's own informants were given guns to pass on to the cartels.

3) ATF policy is that a written report must be filed within five days of an event, but in this case some were not filed until more than three months passed.

4) I think the Federal Tort Claims Act claims are going to be very hard for the government to defend. The usual defense is the "discretionary function exception," which says the government does not consent to be sued over discretionary functions, a term the Supreme Court construed to mean actions where the decisionmaker had discretion to act, in the sense of not having been forbidden to do so by a superior. Here, the decision(s) to run guns to the cartels didn't just violate regulations or policies, they violated multiple sections of the Gun Control Act and of various arms export statutes. I don't think an agency supervisor will be able to claim he had discretion to do what Congress had specifically outlawed.

ATF team wins first place in the competition for the most mucked-up sting operation in LE history. I've seen some SNAFUs, but this leaves the competition in the dust, down to having a full-auto stolen, three people charged by mistake (one was in prison on the day he supposedly sold them drugs), rented premises trashed, and a landlord-tenant dispute with their landlord. Oh, and a real "buy-back." Among the guns they bought was one that was stolen from the premises.

The complaint is for constitutional violations; I haven't done the research, but that might have problems. They might amend to add Federal Tort Claims Act claims, after that time limit runs (you have to file an administrative claim, then give the government six months to act on it, as I recall.

Katie Pavlich is is reporting that the supervisors involved in F&F are being fired or demoted.

What's especially interesting is the case of Bill McMahon, who took a job in Singapore, I believe, for JP Morgan (which issues the ATF credit cards), nicely getting him beyond the reach of Congressional subpoenas. But he didn't give up his ATF job, he was still listed as an employee on leave, meaning I could return to his old job eventually.

I posted on that -- a Federal employee can only carry over so much annual leave from year to year, I forget now whether it's 20 or 30 days -- how can he have enough leave to hold out for months?

Pavlich reports that he wasn't on leave, he was still drawing his Federal pay, while out of country working for a hefty private sector salary! I could see criminal charges arising out of that one.

What's sometimes frustrating is that the Feds will charge first, either for good reasons or for publicity, and then the State will ignore things, figuring someone else is taking care of them. Here, the Feds could charge conspiracy and dealing without a license. The State could have charged felony murder (meaning the death penalty, or "natural life" -- no release ever -- or ordinary life -- no parole for 25 years). It could have thrown on armed robbery, which I think has a presumptive sentence of 7.5 years, then aggravated it for use a firearm and a few other things, and probably doubled that.

According to the Washington Times, Issa's latest committee report "divulged for the first time that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s office originally planned for him to go to Arizona to announce the results of the Fast and Furious investigation before Justice Department officials abruptly dropped the idea when guns from the operation showed up at the murder scene of the border agent."

This confirms that the operation was being treated as a media matter; the logical purpose of an AG press conference is not merely to announce arrests (that could be done in a press release) but to push the theme of "we need more gun laws because American guns are going to Mexican cartels." That wouldn't prove that the AG knew that guns were being walked... those setting up the gun walking would have figured to get praise, promotions, and bonuses for the PR outcome, without mentioning that little detail, or mentioning it only after

October 26, 2010. Right in the middle of the Fast and Furious gunrunning, with SAC William Newell overseeing the operation. An Arizona television station reports:

PHOENIX - Weapons that trace back to dealers and sellers in Arizona are being found at various Mexican crime scenes, according to William Newell, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Phoenix Division.

“Mexico is in a tough, tough situation right now, they are at war against a very, very violent, vicious group of thugs,” said Newell.
. . . . . . .

At various Mexican crime scenes, Newell said they are finding weapons that trace back to dealers and sellers in Arizona.

“We have agents throughout Mexico, I go to Mexico all the time, I see US-sourced firearms there all the time," he said. "A large percentage of those firearms that they illegally acquire and illegally traffic to Mexico are from the U.S. and a large percentage are from Arizona.”

The Daily Caller reports that Univision linked two cartel mass slayings to F&F firearms, one involving an attack by 20 hit men on a student party, which left 14 dead and 12 wounded. It noted that 57 previously unreported F&F guns were linked to murders and kidnappings in Mexico.

Separately, it reports that when that cartel's top enforcer and carnage king was arrested in 2011, he was carrying F&F guns.

If the object of F&F was to get American guns used in violent crime in Mexico, it appears to have been very successful. I've seen figures indicating that when ordinary American guns turn up there, the "time to crime" (time between retail sale and recovery) was in the years and decades. With F&F guns, it was in the days and weeks. It appears that there is a very high percentage of them so recovered, and in this case, they were personal favorites of a cartel leader.

And to think that all the bloodbath the operation created is thought to be remedied by a few resignations and talk of "flawed leadership" ....

UPDATE: A friend who monitors border area media say "A quick scan of Monday US - Mexico border, English language media and Mexican media pretty much indicates the Univision special on F&F never happened. Almost total silence. Univision did do a credible job of promoting the program. Don't know about the US media, but it has been suggested that the Mexican media is waiting for guidance from EPN and the PRI.

On its program Aquí y Ahora,, Sunday, Sept. 30, at 7 PM Eastern and Pacific, 6 Central (and no idea what time Mountain). It'll be close captioned in English.

From the press release:

"A Univision News investigation reveals how the U.S. government armed Mexican drug cartels. The consequences of the controversial “Fast and Furious” undercover operation put in place by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in 2009 have been deadlier than what has been made public to date. The exclusive, in-depth investigation by Univision News’ award-winning Investigative Unit – Univision Investiga – has found that the guns that crossed the border as part of Operation Fast and Furious caused dozens of deaths inside Mexico.

Univision’s Investigative Unit identified massacres committed with guns from the ATF operation, including the killing of 16 young people attending a party in a residential area of Ciudad Juárez in January of 2010. This and many other shocking new revelations about Fast and Furious will be presented in a special edition of Univision Network’s newsmagazine “Aquí y Ahora” (Here and Now) this Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. ET/PT (6 p.m. Central). The Univision News special will be aired with closed captioning in English to expand the reach and impact of this eye-opening investigation.

Univision News’ Investigative Unit was also able to identify additional guns that escaped the control of ATF agents and were used in different types of crimes throughout Mexico. Furthermore, some of these guns –none of which were reported by Congressional investigators–were put in the hands of drug traffickers in Honduras, Puerto Rico, and Colombia. A person familiar with the recent Congressional hearings called Univision’s findings “the holy grail” that Congress had been searching for."

I've mentioned this before, but here's a more in-depth story. Gist appears to be that ATF agents didn't want to work in a task force the US Attorney had created, and so the US Attorney has for a year turned down all ATF cases, while bad-mouthing the agents and telling them they were "on probation."

Right here. I suspect he's stop on. Tomorrow the media will be running that the report exonerates Holder and the White House when, as he notes, key players (including the White House National Security Advisor with whom ATF officials were communicating) refused to be interviewed by the IG, and the IG did not ask for any White House internal communications.

UPDATE: Eric Holder's response. He announces that former Acting Director of ATF Ken Melson has resigned, as has Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, and folks at the US Attorney's Office and the Phoenix Field Office have been referred for discipline, but that "“It is unfortunate that some were so quick to make baseless accusations before they possessed the facts about these operations – accusations that turned out to be without foundation and that have caused a great deal of unnecessary harm and confusion. I hope today’s report acts as a reminder of the dangers of adopting as fact unsubstantiated conclusions before an investigation of the circumstances is completed."

I guess he wants to have his cake and eat it, too. It's interesting that the effort at damage control, which started out as "a few guys in Phoenix screwed up," ends up sacrificing a Deputy AG as well.

Story here. Part of the upcoming IG report leaks, and it blames the local US Attorney and ATF office. They, in turn, point the finger at Washington:

"Both men recall a detailed briefing Voth delivered to senior ATF and DOJ staff in Washington on March 5, 2010. In a Power Point presentation, attended by at least two deputy attorneys general, Voth explained how the operation was run and how almost two-dozen largely unemployed men bought 1,026 assault weapons with $650,000 in just over four months, then smuggled the guns to Mexico while under surveillance.

"Following the briefing ... Mr. Voth received accolades from his superiors. No one in ATF leadership or at Main Justice raised any concerns with Mr. Voth about the direction of the investigation. If anything, they were encouraging him," Voth attorney Joshua Levy said.

Attorneys for the three contend that the report's conclusion that the strategy for Fast and Furious was hatched in Phoenix is not true. MacAllister's attorney claims that it was "part of the overall ATF Southwest Border strategy to deal with an international criminal enterprise engaged in firearms trafficking.""

p. 11: "This strategy will present certain challenges as some of the persons we seek to investigate, indict, and apprehend will reside outside the United States and/or may be priority targets of other U.S. law enforcement agencies. When appropriate, this strategy envisions that ATF will refer information and actionable intelligence to the Government of Mexico and/or other U.S. law enforcement agencies." Which was not done.

p. 11: "There are also practical considerations that may require bringing investigations to a conclusion or dictate a change in investigative tactics prior to the identification of persons directly affiliated with the DTOs. Examples include high volume trafficking investigations in which numerous diverted firearms identifiable with one or more purchasers are being used in violent crimes and recovered by law enforcement, and high volume trafficking investigations in which over an extended period ATF cannot reasonably determine where or to whom such firearms are being trafficked. SACs must closely monitor and approve such investigations, assessing the risks associated with prolonged investigation with limited or delayed interdiction. In some instances, the best answer may be to provide actionable intelligence to other law enforcement agencies and/or the Government of Mexico." Essentially admits that guns, perhaps in large volume, will be allowed to go to the cartels (DTOs).

p.13: Lists 2009 gun seizures from the cartels. Gulf and Zeta cartels had 892 firearms and 782 grenades seized, the Sinaloas lost 578 firearms and 60 grenades. The grenade numbers are interesting, suggesting that we're talking largely military thefts or imports from the south. This also illustrates that the number of "walked" guns -- estimated at 2000 -- was no drop in the bucket.

p. 18: "The controlled movement of firearms, ammunition, explosives, explosives devices, and/or components or non-functional “props” of such items across the U.S.-Mexico border from the United States shall be coordinated with and approved in advance by Bureau headquarters and the MCO [Mexico Country Office, the ATF attache']. Which was not done -- the attache' was kept in the dark.

If anyone knows the attorney representing Brian Terry's family in their suit against the US, I'd appreciate their bringing this to their attention. One problem in a Federal Tort Claims Act suit is getting around the discretionary function exception, and the key to getting around that is proof that someone disobeyed orders (i.e., had no discretion to do what he did).

It says he's taking annual leave from the agency (apparently planning to retire once that runs out). This is quite unusual. You can always take your annual leave, but taking another job while on it is another question. Also, the Issa letter talks of this having been in effect for nearly half a year. There are limits on the maximum leave a Federal employee can have. In my day, it was 40 days. More than that was "use or lose," lost at the end of the year. I think Senior Executive Service (which he may or may not be) now has 90 days. Either is far from half a year.

I wonder at the wisdom of announcing it, though. As I recall the next step in a criminal contempt citation is for Issa to ask for himself or others to be appointed to prosecute, in the name of the House. Normally he'd have to give Justice a reasonable time in which to act, but now there is no such need.

There is the "inherent contempt" power, where the House orders the arrest of the defendant, and can try him then and there, and pass sentence. It hasn't been used since 1934, when the Senate sentenced a fellow who destroyed evidence to ten days in jail. It was upheld by the Supreme Court in Jurney v. MacCracken, 294 U.S. 125 (1935). ("Here, we are concerned, not with an extension of congressional privilege, but with vindication of the established and essential privilege of requiring the production of evidence. For this purpose, the power to punish for a past contempt is an appropriate means.") The House sends out its Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the defendant, he is tried on the spot, and the House decides whether to convict.

The Demos repeatedly invoke a constitutional duty of the branches of government to cooperate and work with each other. I wonder where that provision is found?

Issa says that the wiretap applications (he cannot give details due to their being under seal) show that high-ups in DoJ (they have to be approved by an Ass't AG, as I recall) show that any reader of them would know that guns were being walked. And this before Brian Terry was killed.

Time for debate has expired. Rep. Dingell moves to remand to committee for additional hearings, largely on Operation Wide Receiver. He chews into ATF leadership pretty well! He says that he's defended the Second Amendment more than any other member of the House (which is a fair claim).

Dingell motion goes to a recorded vote.
It loses.

Now the vote on whether to cite. It passes, supported by 17 Demos. About 100 did walk out.

A second motion to empower the committee to bring a declaratory action in the District Court. The majority wants to move on two fronts, recognizing that the DoJ isn't likely to move fast on charging the AG.

Issa shuts Cummings up, firmly. Good. The guy's tough.

Second resolution is up ... Cummings calls for a recorded vote. (??? why? I was wondering if Pelosi was clever to stage a walk out. NRA was going to score the vote, and probably other groups would do the same. So maybe with a walk-out Demos could say they hadn't voted against it. But now they've returned, and Cummings make a motion that puts their votes on the record, when he could have just let it pass on the voice vote).

Second resolution passes, 255-93, 4 presents and 89 not voting. (I may be a bit off, I missed the last few seconds of the vote). The last number is quite impressive.

1. Could the possibility that this plan was concocted at the very top of the administration, putting it on par with Watergate, explain Eric Holder's entrenched refusal to release the tens of thousands of documents being sought by congressional investigators?
. . . . .

4. Does anyone really think an ambitious politician like Holder would risk career-ending contempt of Congress charges to protect some incredibly stupid subordinates who supposedly, all by themselves, planned and implemented such a boondoggle?

5. In an administration known for its quickness in throwing friends and associates under the bus in matters of self-preservation, is it not remarkable that rather than being so dispatched by Holder, many of the key players in F&F have been promoted despite denials by their bureau?

"“Either you or your most senior advisers were involved in managing Operation Fast and Furious and the fallout from it, including the false Feb. 4, 2011 letter provided by the attorney general to the committee, Or, you are asserting a presidential power that you know to be unjustified solely for the purpose of further obstructing a congressional investigation.”

"Pssst — heard the one about the lethal scandal that reaches to the upper levels of the Obama administration and may turn out to be bigger than Watergate? A crime in which two American agents have been killed, and which the Justice Department has been furiously trying to cover up for more than 18 months?

If you answered “no,” you’re not alone. The mainstream media have largely ignored the lethal — and most likely deliberate — “gunwalking” operation known as Fast and Furious. The plan, as ridiculous as it sounds, was to knowingly sell weapons to Mexican drug cartels, in hopes of tracing the guns. Of course, our government lost track of them."

And

"Wishing to “prove” the lie that 90% of the guns used in Mexican drug violence originate in America (the real figure is closer to 17%), Justice used the failed Operation Wide Receiver as the model for a larger operation deliberately designed to fail.

That way, they could point in feigned horror at the recovered American weapons and crack down on legitimate gun dealers — the very dealers they had forced to sell weapons to the cartels via “straw purchasers” in the first place."

I've added this as an update below, but it merits posting here as well. Ken Klukowski has written a law review article on the procedure for bringing a contempt of Congress charge; while I can't find it online, I can find his article on it at Breitbart. In brief, the House must vote to cite, then...

1. The charges are referred to the US Atty for D.C., who of course works for Eric Holder, and is rather unlikely to charge him.

2. The House then votes again, to authorize one of its members to bring suit for the documents. (I'm not clear from the article how the contempt power links to this. In civil contempt, the person is ordered to produce or be punished, and there is no right to a separate trial, jury trial, etc.. But if he produces, there is no punishment. In criminal contempt, the failure to produce is treated as a "done deal." There was a lawful order, and it was violated. He can be punished even if he later produces. In turn, since it is a criminal charge, there is a right to a separate trial, usually trial by jury, etc.).

A short piece in the Washington TImes. I handled FOIA requests when I was with the government. At least at my level (career staffers rather than the POTUS) the rules were essentially that you could withhold deliberative materials, where staffers advised on or debated what to do, thus ensuring they could evaluate things without being chilled (no agency will, of course, agree that that applies to private citizens). But it could not withhold factual portions, parts that described happenings.

Sipsey Street Irregulars posts that congressional investigators have found a 2010 Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo reporting 50 "walked" guns were traced to Mexican crime scenes ... authored by Agent Jaimie Zapata, who would later be ambushed and killed by men using more "walked" guns. ICE is part of DHS, which has so far been treating Fast and Furious as a Justice/BATF matter of which they had little knowledge.... this memo is bad news for Ms. Napolitano.

David Codrea reports that Mike V adds "“We are at a critical juncture here, ... You need to let your readers know that, and ask them to once again call their congressmen, especially if they’re on the [House Oversight and Government Reform] Committee, to beat them up and make them aware there will be a political price for not voting for contempt.”

I think it goes even farther than that. We're talking two Cabinet departments that have been in deep coverup mode....

The Washington Post, in a front page article, heaves Eric Holder under the bus. When a Demo is in the White House, WaPo is the White House's PR agency, so I read this as indicating the White House has decided that he's a lost cause.

An extraordinary claim. There's a reason why those have to be approved up to the Ass't AG level. There's probably a provision in the Departmental Manual that states what an approval certifies. (The Interior Dept manual had a provision specifying what a staff attorney's approval signified). I don't think Justice was as strict as Interior was on the details -- I once had an important memo bounced back to me by my boss' boss because on page two there was one space between the period of one sentence and the first letter of the next, and the gov't style manual required two -- but it's likely that everyone who approved that application in fact read every word in it.

My friend Bob Sanders -- who retired from ATF HQ many years back -- predicted that the Fast and Furious wiretap authorization requests would be critical. ATF virtually never uses wiretaps, he pointed out, and so the persons seeking authorization would be unable to claim lack of memory, it was likely the only one they'd ever done, and would try to inform as many people as possible to guard against error and to CYA if one was made. Rep. Issa got his hands on those requests and, as predicted, found a treasure trove. From what his letter of yesterday relates, they show that officials up to an Assistant Attorney General were fully informed that guns were being allowed to go to the Mexican drug cartels.

A few days ago, David Codrea pointed out a dilemma for the administration: President Obama could hardly veto the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act, but if he signed it it'd be customary to hold a signing ceremony with Terry's next of kin, who had not been kind about Eric Holder's conduct in the matter.

"On Tuesday, when Obama signed the bill into law, he did not hold a public signing ceremony with Terry’s family. The announcement that Obama had signed the memorial act into law was stuffed in the middle of a White House press release packed with other announcements not relevant to Terry.

The press release contained no quote from Obama or from White House press secretary Jay Carney about Terry."

"Behind the scenes, Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have expressed reservations about the political impact of holding Holder in contempt.
. . . . .
A GOP aide also warned against a racial backlash if Republicans are seen as unfairly targeting the first black attorney general, who is serving under the first black president. “Especially after Trayvon,” the aide said, referring to slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin."

The Brian Terry Memorial Act, which among other things renames the Bisbee AZ Border Patrol station after the murdered agent, passed the Senate unanimously, and should easily pass the House. David Codrea and others point out the dilemma for President Obama at that point. Protocol would be to invite Agent Terry's family to the signing ceremony.... but they've uttered some "strong opinions frankly voiced" regarding his Attorney General.

"'Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms' isn't just a name -- it's a lifestyle," said ATF Director Roger Smythe. "If you enjoy these three things -- either individually or, if you're like me, all at once -- then this is the government agency for you."

Three defendants plead out. Jaime Avila Jr."faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to dealing guns without a federal license and conspiracy to deal guns without a license, making false statements in a gun purchase and smuggling goods out of the U.S."

So much for the US Attorney's instructions to ATF during the operation that there was no probable cause to arrest since each gun purchase must be assessed on its own, without regard to others, so twenty gun buys followed by the twenty guns being found in Mexico proves nothing -- analyzed individually, one purchase followed by the gun being found in Mexico wouldn't give probably cause, since it might have been stolen, and twenty repetitions of this would prove no more.

The LA Times has the story. As previously noted, the key target actually was apprehended inside the US, about six months into F&F, but released to return to Mexico on a promise to cooperate. (Reports that the ATF supervisor made him swear "cross my heart and hope to die / stick a thousand needles in my eye" have not been confirmed.)

It gets worse. The supervisor was hoping he'd lead them (because even a cartel supplier can't break a "cross my heart" promise) to two higher ups.

It turns out the two higher-ups were informants working for the FBI....

A. A person commits misconduct involving weapons by knowingly:
. . . . . .
14. Supplying, selling or giving possession or control of a firearm to another person if the person knows or has reason to know that the other person would use the firearm in the commission of any felony;

Second degree murder, a class 1 felony §13-1104:

A. A person commits second degree murder if without premeditation:
. . . . .
3. Under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, the person recklessly engages in conduct that creates a grave risk of death and thereby causes the death of another person….

Manslaughter, a class 2 felony §13-1103:

A. A person commits manslaughter by:
1. Recklessly causing the death of another person….

Negligent homicide, a class four felony §13-1102:

A. A person commits negligent homicide if with criminal negligence the person causes the death of another person, including an unborn child.

Derivative liability

Here, I count accomplice liability (aiding and abetting), facilitation (knowingly providing a criminal with the means to commit a crime), and possibly conspiracy,

Story here. The link is to the murder of ICE agent Jaimie Zapata, in Mexico. And just as in the case of the BP agent Brian Terry, the Feds claim that his family, and an agent injured in the same attack, are not "victims" of anything. Because if they were, they'd be victims of the government's own gunrunning.

""I have not," Napolitano answered when asked during a House hearing if she had talked about Operation Fast and Furious with Holder. To explain their lack of communication, she observed that "it's been under investigation here and with the inspector general, and there was no occasion to do so.""

An agency, answering to Holder, was responsible for killing an agent working for Napalitano. But that's no reason for raise the subject, in the year-plus since it came to light.

It's amazing how tolerant we (or at least the media) are to governmental moronity. If a subdivision of Colt or DPMS were knowingly arming the drug cartels, and the president of the company, a year later, said he'd not bothered to discuss it with anyone, there would be (justified) cries for his head. Heads of private entities are expected to be sane and not morons. Heads of government agencies, on the other hand....

"And he began working on gun control. DeConcini said Burke helped draft the Anti-Drug Assault Weapons Limitation Act of 1989. A five-year battle ensued, ending with President Bill Clinton signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which made it a federal offense to possess certain semiautomatic rifles manufactured after the law's passage.

DeConcini said Burke fostered the measure in concert with a key figure in the White House, policy analyst Rahm Emanuel, who years later would become chief of staff for President Obama. Emanuel now is mayor of Chicago.

"Dennis was the one who worked with everyone on the Judiciary Committee to line up these members and votes," DeConcini said. "Dennis had all these pictures of these guns -- the Streetsweepers and the AK-47s. And it passed by one vote. A lot of it was not my eloquence on the bill, it was stuff that Dennis had done."

The law was adopted shortly before Burke left his Senate job for a position in the Clinton White House as a senior policy analyst for law enforcement and drug issues, again working with Emanuel.

According to preserved e-mails, Burke continued handling firearm issues, discussing whether executive orders could be used to extend the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act requirement for background checks.
. . . . . . .
During a news conference in 2010, Burke complained that scores of guns from Arizona were being recovered in Mexico. "We have a huge problem here. We have now become the gun locker of the Mexican drug cartels." What Burke did not mention was that his prosecutors had allegedly instructed ATF agents to let some of those weapons "walk" across the border.

In fact, just one month after Burke's appointment as U.S. attorney was confirmed by the Senate, Operation Fast and Furious was secretly launched in Arizona.
. . . . . .
In an April 2010 e-mail to a colleague, Burke predicted that the operation would have a huge public impact: "It's going to bring a lot of attention to straw purchasers of assault weapons," he wrote. "Some of these weapons bought by these clowns in Arizona have been directly traced to murders of elected officials in Mexico by the cartels, so Katie-bar-the-door when we unveil this baby.""

Letter here. He's taken a focus on the US Attorney's Office. The head of its Criminal Division has taken the Fifth, and Justice refuses to let the "line attorneys" testify, claiming it always keeps them out of Congressional investigations. But, the letter points out, there is a fellow who was under the head of Criminal, but was a supervisor rather than a line attorney, and Issa sets a deadline of close of business today to state whether he will appear voluntarily or have to be subpoenaed.

Yesterday's letter is here. The most stinging part is on p. 2, where Issa asks how the Department of Justice can be continuing a man who has to plead the Fifth as head of Criminal Division in the US Attorney's Office.

It was reportedly named Operation White Gun. Not much detail yet, but the note that the agent in charge found firearms "relating to" her investigation in Mexican evidence lockers suggests that guns were flowing.

He's followed his boss's lead and tendered his own resignation, effective January 27. Not to say the committee is hot on his trail, but they subponeaed him for testimony this coming Tuesday, by deposition.

UPDATE: here's Issa's letter. It has very strong language. You cancelled your voluntary appearance today. So a subpoena is on the way, requiring you to appear in Washington on 72 hour's notice. By the way, the offer your attorney made is what might be expected from an indicted defendant trying to plea bargain, and unacceptable to the committee.

"First, ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious was never intended or designed to be a ‘gun tracking/tracing’ operation, since there were never provisions in place to allow agents to trace or interdict weapons once they were sold, with the backing of ATF, to straw buyers and allowed to be trafficked, unimpeded, across the US-Mexico border.

Second, ATF never intended the existence of Fast and Furious to become public knowledge; funding requests were buried in larger appropriations requests. Although no tracing or tracking devices were attached to the military-grade weapons that ATF allowed to be trafficked into Mexico, serial numbers were entered in ATF’s eTrace data bank, allowing agents, once weapons had been recovered at crime scenes and returned to ATF by Mexican authorities, to verify that they had been obtained illegally and within a short ‘buy-to-crime’ time frame from US gun dealers. Verification of this kind would offer strong support to Mexico’s claim that gun violence along border regions is fueled by illegal gun sales in the US and lend muscle to cries in the US for stronger gun legislation.

Third, any ATF operation that involved the trafficking of weapons across the US border required Justice to coordinate first with ICE (DHS), the agency with legal jurisdiction for cross-border weapons transfers, and the US Department of State, which is responsible for issuing exemptions to the Arms Export Control Act (AECA). Janet Napolitano, in charge of ICE, denies any knowledge of Fast and Furious, as does Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. If ATF did indeed walk roughly 2000 lethal weapons across the US border absent waivers from State, the agency and the officials involved would be guilty of violating USC 7228 (AECA)–multiple felonies.

Fourth, Fast and Furious was not a bottom-up operation: Special Agent John Dodson, a field agent in the Phoenix office was the first to claim ‘whistleblower status’ and inform Congress re the existence of the Operation and its consequences–the deaths of roughly 300 people attributable to ATF’s gunwalking operation, including the death of US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry on US soil. Emails and other documents proving the involvement of DOJ and other admininstration officials in Fast and Furious at early stages of the operation suggests motive and planning at high levels."

An interesting article in the Washington Times. I can understand the ATF's problems here -- it's stuck with interpreting a 70 year old statute that wasn't thought thru at the time of enactment. What I don't understand is how, given the Admin Procedure Act and FOIA, the "letter rulings" aren't completely public (things like those should at least be on public display in the agency reading room, and likely be codified in the Code of Federal Regs).

"ISSA: Yesterday, Mr. Attorney General, we became aware that e- mail between Lanny Breuer and the deputy -- his deputy, Jason Weinstein, about Fast and Furious in March time frame, that they exist. Some of these -- actually all of these have been withheld from the committee. Will you agree to turn over those communications in the March time frame between Lenny Breuer and his deputy, Jason Weinstein?

HOLDER: March of what year?

ISSA: 2011.

HOLDER: As I have indicated, we are not going to be turning over materials after February.

ISSA: Are you aware that you are in fact, by doing so, in the fact that we already issued from the Oversight Committee a subpoena, you are standing in contempt of Congress unless you have a valid reason, that you express it, that you provide logs, which you've refused to provide for the -- the other information? Otherwise you will leave the committee no choice but to seek contempt for your failure to deliver or to cite a constitutional exemption.

SMITH: The gentleman's time has expired. The attorney general will be allowed to respond.

HOLDER: We will respond in a way that is consistent with the way in which the Justice Department has always responded to those kinds of requests.

ISSA: That's not the question, Mr. Attorney General.

(UNKNOWN): Regular order, Mr. Chairman.

SMITH: Please proceed, Mr. Attorney General.

HOLDER: We'll respond in a way that other attorneys general have, other Justice...

HOLDER: Ms. Adams asked me about -- Congresswoman Adams asked me about political points. The reference to John Mitchell, let's think about that. Think about that. At some point, as they said in the -- it was the McCarthy hearing, at some point have you no shame, you know?

In any case, I will say that with regard to that, we have made our point clear how we will respond.

Mostly desultory. The most clash came at the end of the second segment:

CHAFFETZ: I have a hard time believing, Mr. Attorney General -- with all due respect, my time is short. Twice, the president of the United States has gone before the American people and said that you had nothing to do with this; you weren't involved, that you weren't engaged in it, yet you say you've never spoken to the president.

How is it that he would know that you haven't been -- you weren't involved in this, and he could make such a claim, if you've never even spoken to him about it?

HOLDER: Well, the president gets information from the Justice Department in a variety of ways. We interact with the White House counsel's office very frequently. I don't know exactly what the flow of information is within the White House, but he can find out about my state of involvement in matters connected to the Justice Department without speaking directly to me.

CHAFFETZ: Let me move on to -- you have access to obviously the e-mails of Dennis Burke. On Wednesday, November 24th, 2010, he sent an e-mail that said, quote, "Some of the weapons bought by these clowns in Arizona have been directly traced to murders of elected officials in Mexico by the cartels. So Katie bar the door when we unveil this baby," end quote.

How is it that you've never had a discussion with your counterpart in Mexico about this?

In fact, in a Los Angeles Times article dated September 19th of this year, quote, "At no time did we know or were we made aware that there might have been arms trafficking permitted. In no way would we have allowed it because it is an attack on the safety of Mexicans."

It goes on in the article -- actually the paragraph before, "And to this date, she said, U.S. officials have not briefed her on the operation gone awry, nor have they apologized."

What is unacceptable is that you and everybody in your organization, according to the higher-ups, know about this investigation; you don't have 15 minutes to pick up the phone, and we have still never talked to these people in order to solve this problem, because, as you say, it's going to go on for some time.

HOLDER: We have taken steps -- I have taken steps to solve this problem in that I've ordered an examination of this to determine exactly what happened. I have issued directives that this should never happen again. We have put in place measures at ATF so that this kind of thing won't happen again. What Todd Jones has done with regard to the reforms that he has put in place, I think, are going to be extremely effective. And I've made personnel changes with regard to....

CHAFFETZ: You haven't fired anybody. Nobody's been fired.

SMITH: The gentleman's time has expired. Does the gentleman want to respond to the last question?

HOLDER: I just was trying to say that I have made personnel changes with regard to the agencies that have been involved, and these are initial determinations that I have made. It is not all that I am possibly going to do.

There is an impatience here, and in some ways I understand it. But the reality is that you have to do these things on the basis of evidence, on the basis of findings that are factually grounded. And when I am in that position, I will take the appropriate action. But I want to assure you and the American people that people will be held accountable for the mistakes that were made in Fast and Furious.
. . . . .
ISSA: A point of inquiry. Do political appointees of the presidents and the attorney general serve at the pleasure of the president or the attorney general, or do they need to have -- have to be fired for cause?

Story here. It's been covered on blogs, bur now it's reaching the MSM. The supervisors handling the gunwalking scheme exchanged email over some of the sales (which they were authorizing and encouraging) and resulting traces could be used to justify long-gun reporting.

Kurt Hoffman blogs the latest CBS revelation, the State Department's "direct commercial sales program." It allows foreign government units to order guns (from what I can see, semi-autos) directly from US manufacturers. The authorizations have expanded from 2,476 in 2006 to 18,709 in 2009 (State won't reveal 2010 or 2011 figures). State Department audits found that around 26% of the guns thus shipped quickly wound up in the wrong hands. But it keeps on authorizing them.

From January 2011, about a month before the story of "Operation Fast and Furious" began to break:

""Our office is committed to stopping the illegal flow of guns into Mexico," Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, says. "The massive size of this operation sadly exemplifies the magnitude of the problem -- Mexican Drug Lords go shopping for war weapons in Arizona.""

And another memorable utterance:

"This investigation is further proof of the relentless efforts by Mexican drug cartels, especially the Sinaloa Cartel, to illegally acquire large quantities of firearms in Arizona and elsewhere in the U.S. for use in the ongoing Mexican drug war," Bill Newell, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division, says in a statement.

Story here. Apparently, when Sen. Grassley wrote Holder asking if guns were being "walked," the US Attorney for Arizona emailed Justice HQ that "Grassley's assertions regarding the Arizona investigation and the weapons recovered at the "murder scene are based on categorical falsehoods. I worry that ATF will take 8 months to answer this when they should be refuting its underlying accusations right now."

Since he had personal knowledge that guns were being walked, that would explain his sudden resignation. It's interesting that (1) Holder declined to state this when asked about the letter and (2) that it took this much prying to get the information out. I suspect the US Attorney has something to hold over HQ's head, or this would have been given up immediately. "I was lied to by a guy whom I demanded resign," is a quick and easy answer.

This would never have come to light but for a lot of persistence by Grassley and Issa, which tells you how easily an agency can lie to a senator and get away with it.

UPDATE: Unbelievable. The US Attorney for Arizona, Dennis K. Burke, was assuring HQ that Sen. Grassley was a "stooge for the gun lobby" and that he was "personally outraged by Senator Grassley’s falsehoods," and the mythical gun lobby was "lobbing this reckless despicable accusation..."

BP Agents aren't known for mincing words, and their statement lives up to that. They are "appalled and infuriated by what is coming to light about Operation Fast and Furious."

"We call it a scheme for we will not dignify it by calling it an investigation."

"The departures from acceptable investigative practices were many, but in short, ATF allowed and encouraged and in some cases apparently coerced, U.S. gun dealers, whom they license, to abet violations of federal gun control laws"

"Due to the number of agencies and the political and professional stakes involved, it is no surprise that, at best, the administration is being uncooperative in Congress' inquiries into the matter. At worst, it appears that a cover-up is underway. Normally, the Department of Justice and agency Inspectors General would look into what has gone on. However, the conflicts of interest and the high stakes make it nearly impossible to expect that any of those entities would produce and unbiased, truthful finding."

"That misdeeds, felonies, in fact, have been committed and condoned by government agents is incontrovertible. Now, we must find out who is responsible. To do otherwise would be a miscarriage of justice."

David Codrea blogs the Arizona Republic coverage. The Republic is the big paper up in Phoenix, and unlike the Tucson paper, has no qualms about covering the case. It's great coverage.

One mystery to me has always been the ATF supervisor who emailed agents, "If you don't think this is fun, you're in the wrong line of work -- period!" In the hearings, the supervisors conceded that they had no plans to extradite and prosecute Cartel members or leaders. So where's the fun? Supplying drug cartels with guns? That seems like a rather strange way to get your amusement. The one thing that might seem fun is, if you wanted more restrictions, the idea that a plan to inflate the tracing statistics was succeeding.

A very interesting article, suggesting that the US government may be the principle supplier of the cartels, and not thru Operation Fast and Furious! The Mexican Army is heavily equipped with US arms, and has about 25,000 desertions per year Plus, the US ships semiauto rifles (I assume for law enforcement) to Mexico, at the rate of 13,000-20,000 per year. In 2009, the value of arms shipped nearly trebled over 2008.

The Washington TImes is reporting that the illegals who shot it out with Terry's BP unit were looking for Border Patrol agents in order to attack them; they were seen (I assume in thermal imaging) to be advancing with guns butts at the shoulder, ready to shoot.

BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES
SALARIES AND EXPENSES

For necessary expenses of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives,....
:
Provided, That no funds appropriated herein or hereafter
shall be available for salaries or administrative expenses in connection
with consolidating or centralizing, within the Department of
Justice, the records, or any portion thereof, of acquisition and disposition
of firearms maintained by Federal firearms licensees: Provided
further, That no funds appropriated herein shall be used to
pay administrative expenses or the compensation of any officer or
employee of the United States to implement an amendment or
amendments to 27 CFR 478.118 or to change the definition of Curios
or relics in 27 CFR 478.11 or remove any item from ATF Publication
5300.11 as it existed on January 1, 1994: Provided further,
That none of the funds appropriated herein shall be available to investigate
or act upon applications for relief from Federal firearms
disabilities under 18 U.S.C. 925(c): Provided further, That such
funds shall be available to investigate and act upon applications
filed by corporations for relief from Federal firearms disabilities
under section 925(c) of title 18, United States Code: Provided further,
That no funds made available by this or any other Act may
be used to transfer the functions, missions, or activities of the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to other agencies
or Departments: Provided further, That, during the current fiscal
year and in each fiscal year thereafter, no funds appropriated under
this or any other Act may be used to disclose part or all of the contents
of the Firearms Trace System database maintained by the National
Trace Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives or any information required to be kept by licensees pursuant
to section 923(g) of title 18, United States Code, or required
to be reported pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (7) of such section,
except to: (1) a Federal, State, local, or tribal law enforcement agency,
or a Federal, State, or local prosecutor; or (2) a foreign law enforcement
agency solely in connection with or for use in a criminal
investigation or prosecution; or (3) a Federal agency for a national
security or intelligence purpose; unless such disclosure of such data
to any of the entities described in (1), (2) or (3) of this proviso would
compromise the identity of any undercover law enforcement officer
or confidential informant, or interfere with any case under investigation;
and no person or entity described in (1), (2) or (3) shall
knowingly and publicly disclose such data; and all such data shall
be immune from legal process, shall not be subject to subpoena or
other discovery, shall be inadmissible in evidence, and shall not be
used, relied on, or disclosed in any manner, nor shall testimony or
other evidence be permitted based on the data, in a civil action in
any State (including the District of Columbia) or Federal court or
in an administrative proceeding other than a proceeding commenced
by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
to enforce the provisions of chapter 44 of such title, or a review of
such an action or proceeding; except that this proviso shall not be
construed to prevent: (A) the disclosure of statistical information
concerning total production, importation, and exportation by each
licensed importer (as defined in section 921(a)(9) of such title) and
licensed manufacturer (as defined in section 921(a)(10) of such
title); (B) the sharing or exchange of such information among and
between Federal, State, local, or foreign law enforcement agencies,
Federal, State, or local prosecutors, and Federal national security,
intelligence, or counterterrorism officials; or (C) the publication of
annual statistical reports on products regulated by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including total production,
importation, and exportation by each licensed importer (as so
defined) and licensed manufacturer (as so defined), or statistical aggregate
data regarding firearms traffickers and trafficking channels,
or firearms misuse, felons, and trafficking investigations: Provided
further, That no funds made available by this or any other
Act shall be expended to promulgate or implement any rule requiring
a physical inventory of any business licensed under section 923
of title 18, United States Code: Provided further, That, hereafter, no
funds made available by this or any other Act may be used to electronically
retrieve information gathered pursuant to 18 U.S.C.
923(g)(4) by name or any personal identification code: Provided further,
That no funds authorized or made available under this or any
other Act may be used to deny any application for a license under
section 923 of title 18, United States Code, or renewal of such a li-
cense due to a lack of business activity, provided that the applicant
is otherwise eligible to receive such a license, and is eligible to report
business income or to claim an income tax deduction for business
expenses under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

Here's what I see when I use the court's electronic docket and search for the case by its file number:

Normally there would be links on the side for the case history, a docket sheet listing all the pleadings and motions, and much more. Not here. The entire file is sealed, and even the motion to seal is itself sealed.

In the matter of BP Agent Brian Terry, where Fast and Furious guns were found at the scene, the government brought an indictment against Manuel Osorio-Arellandes and others, whose names were revealed. The morning paper here reports that the entire case has apparently been sealed, and the prosecutor refuses to make a statement as to why.

I find this extraordinary. Sure, specific documents are sometimes sealed -- in this case, the original indictment, with the names of all defendants, is apparently sealed. But to seal an entire case is extraordinary, let alone to do it some six months into the case.

""Can you name me one person who's been held accountable for this Fast and Furious operation?" Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn demanded.

Holder said the memos, despite being addressed to him, went to his staff and did not refer to specific tactics or the operation's name. He also pointed to a personnel shake-up in the ATF and prosecutors' office in Phoenix and that there is new leadership at ATF's Washington headquarters."

Count upon the New York Times and WashPo to give an idea of where the coverup is going. First, it was "this was an abberant operation of ATF's Phoenix Field Office. Now, it's falling back to "it was an abberant operation of ATF HQ, but didn't involve anyone higher."

"Criminal division officials learned about the details of Wide Receiver in late 2009, after a prosecutor from its gang unit was sent to Arizona to help bring charges in the case. She learned about the tactics, and word reached a deputy to Mr. Breuer {assistant Attorney General], Jason Weinstein, who pronounced himself “stunned” in an April 2010 e-mail.

A.T.F. supervisors, however, were less alarmed. After Mr. Breuer’s aides briefed him, William G. McMahon, the deputy director of A.T.F. at the time, wrote to a colleague: “Some surprises but nothing terrible.”"

Story here. One important question in Fast and Furious is how much the White House knew about the gun walking. A key witness on that would be Kevin O’Reilly, member of the president's National Security Council... but the White said he was in Iraq, and unreachable.

Pajamas Media comes through, discovering that he was (out of the blue) made director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau for Iraq, found his office phone (which unless I'm reading it wrong, is in the Maryland suburbs of DC, area code 240), called it, and were told he was on a conference call. They left voicemail, and when they called back the number had been disconnected.

at Townhall. The agency discards a guy who put his life on the line (or even tries to get him killed off), while protecting the guys who sat under air conditioning dreaming up Fast and Furious.

Just a small sample:

"When Dobyns reported the incident [arson of his house] to both ATF and Newell and asked for an investigation into the case, Newell not only refused to investigate, calling the incident "just scorching," but allowed his subordinates, including Gillett, to attempt to frame Dobyns, accusing him of purposely burning down his own home with his family inside, has named him as a suspect and is investigating him. Newell conspired to destroy and fabricate evidence to "prove" his case. Emails, witness testimony, phone conversations and other documentation show the ATF Phoenix Field Divisions’ intentions, led by Newell, were to frame Dobyns, yet Newell denied under oath any involvement in this activity. His subordinates Gillett and ATF Tucson Group Supervisor over Operation Wide Receiver Charles Higman, also denied any attempts to frame Dobyns under oath, despite evidence showing otherwise.

The retaliatory actions of Newell, and other ATF management agents, were reported to ATF senior management at the highest levels and were ignored.

ATF is notorious for retaliatory action against field agents, but the Dobyns case brings that retaliation behavior to a new level. Credible death threats, backed by evidence from inside the prison system, the investigation of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the Office of the Inspector General in the Bush Justice Department, were ignored by ATF management in the Phoenix Field Division Office and at ATF headquarters in Washington D.C. Evidence of the threats was also sent to Congress and the President of the United States."

Here's the description of what it requests. Whew, essentially every communication or report or note of meetings relating to F&F, not mention the FBI ballistics reports on the bullet that killed BP Agent Brian Terry. The more interesting items are the more specific: "All communications sent or received between August 7, 2009 and March 19, 2011 between and among former Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual; Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer; and, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz." That's specific enough to show the committee knows details about who wrote to whom.

"Incredibly, in your letter from Friday you now claim that you were unaware of Fast and Furious because your staff failed to inform you of information contained in memos that were specifically addressed to you. At best, this indicates negligence and incompetence in your duties as Attorney General. At worst, it places your credibility into serious doubt."

Story here. Bottom line: the 2006 Operation Operation Wide Receiver tried to use radio locator devices in the rifles, tracked by aircraft. They found the plan didn't work. The antennae of the radio locators had to be folded up to fit, shortening their range, the smugglers ate up time until the aircraft had to refuel. Upon discovering that it wasn't working, the Operation was canceled in 2007.

There are still some unanswered questions such as why the transmitters and couldn't have been modified with more space for the antenna a batteries, and the leaks don't tell us whether the guns would have been interdicted. But the bottom line was the operation was canceled, leaving the question of why Operation Fast and Furious was begun a few years later, sans (with a few exceptions) radio locators.

By the way, the local newspaper has finally started to cover gun walking. It'd never mentioned that the US Attorney for the state resigned. And covered all the past events via a couple of wire services stories buried in the paper. One of the whistleblower agents lives right in town, but they've never interviewed him, or if they have, they killed the story. I once joked that the only place their writers were allowed to criticized government officials was in the sports section.

But with the government's trying to defend by releasing data on an earlier, Bush-era episode of gun walking, suddenly that story gets coverage. It's been in front page articles three of the last four days.

Yep, they're a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. Frankly, I'd be as annoyed if they were a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP. It's not a matter of slant on an editorial page, but one of self-censoring even local news that would inconvenience the party of choice.

On the O'Reilly Factor. She confirms cursing and shouting, from the White House flack hired to cover the issue. She adds that there are a lot more revelations to come. I do wish O'Reilly would pipe down and let her speak more.

Story here. When the White House and DoJ screaming didn't work, it looks as if they tried pressuring her bosses. Washington can reward a news outlet by feeding it advance tips and interviews with "unnamed sources," or it can punish it by cutting those off and feeding them to its rivals.

Via Instapundit. Who will never, ever, get any advance tips or "unnamed source" interviews.

The Arizona Daily Star is based here in Tucson. The Border Patrol agent was murdered just south of here, the operation was run out of Phoenix to the north, the US Attorney for the state resigned, one of the whistleblower agents lives right here in town ... and the Star has barely covered the story. But today it got on the front page ... sort of. "Bush-era Operation Let Guns 'Walk,' Too, Federal Officials Say."

The story amounts to a statement by an unnamed Justice Department person that during an undercover operation, straw men were allowed to receive guns. OK, that's in the nature of an undercover operation. Nowhere in the story is it claimed that the straw men were allowed to ship the guns into Mexico, which is the key point.

CBS News has the story. Holder was sent briefing papers on it in July of last year, but in May of this year testified that he;d only heard about it "for the first time over the last few weeks."

The July 2010 brief devotes a paragraph to F&F on p. 7. To be fair, it doesn't mention government gun-running.

October 2010 emails show Deputy Ass't AG Jason Weinstein noting, "It's a tricky case given the number of guns that have walked." James Trusty, head of DoJ's Organized Crime and Gang Section, replies, "It's not going to be any big surprise that a bunch of US guns are being used in MX, so I'm not sure how much grief we get for 'gun walking."

March 2009: Hillary Clinton visits Mexico, delivers a speech. "These criminals are outgunning law enforcement officials," Clinton said of the street warfare in towns near the border that have claimed more than 6,000 lives in the past year. And since we know that the vast majority, 90% of that [weaponry] comes from our country, we're going to try to stop it from getting there in the first place," Clinton said."

April 2009: President Obama visits Mexico. "Meeting face-to-face with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, President Obama on Thursday said the U.S. is to blame for much of Mexico’s drug violence, and he set up a major congressional gun-control battle by calling on the Senate to ratify a treaty designed to track and cut the flow of guns to other countries. Mr. Obama said he wants to renew a ban on some semiautomatic weapons but that it is not likely to pass Congress." He adds, "more than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States, many from gun shops that lay in our shared border."

September 2009: Operation Fast and Furious appears to begin at about this point.

October 2009: Field Field Division establishes "Group VII." Its plans include allowing guns to "walk" to Mexico.

March 2010: An email to Group VII supervisors informs them that the acting head of ATF and the Deputy Director of FBI are very interested in the operation and receiving weekly briefings.
Some agents are objecting, since Agent Voth sends an email telling agents that if “you don’t think this is fun,” you should find another job.

April 2010: Group VII reports the straw men purchased 359 firearms, including some .50 rifles, last month alone.

So in Spring 2009 the Administration was pushing its agenda with references to American guns going to Mexico -- with spokesmen including the President, the AG, and the Secretary of State. In the following months, Operation Fast and Furious took form. The gunwalking involved offices in Arizona and Texas, and perhaps Florida, and involved FBI as well as ATF. FBI even bankrolled one of the smugglers. Occam's Razor ... gunwalking was meant to serve a political agenda that (at the outset) was seen as setting the stage for some major pushes, and that required lots of Mexican crime guns to trace to US dealers. And if a few hundred people got killed, that was just the price.

"5. Is the [Justice] Department confident that ATF can fulfill its mission with a part-time director who is based in Minnesota?

6. Have you issued a waiver of the residency requirement for [new acting director] Todd Jones under 28 U.S.C. §545? If so, for what period does the waiver extend?"

Jones is retaining his U.S. Attorney's post in Minnesota while serving as acting director of ATF in Washington, DC. 18 U.S.C. §545 provides:

"Each United States attorney shall reside in the district for which he is appointed, [with exceptions not relevant here]. Pursuant to an order from the Attorney General or his designee, a United States attorney or an assistant United States attorney may be assigned dual or additional responsibilities that exempt such officer from the residency requirement in this subsection for a specific period as established by the order and subject to renewal."

Just as the House Committee wants to interview him, to investigate White House links to Operation Fast and Furious, National Security Council Advisor Kevin O'Reilly is is "currently on a previously scheduled assignment to Iraq." I hope he's got a good room in Baghdad, as it sounds like it may be a long stay.

Another staggering find by Mike Vanderboegh & David Codrea. Story here. The agent named in the management memo to the FFL is one of the whistelblowers, and the memo translates as (1) sell this guy the AKs and (2) don't do a 4473 because they are for official government duties.

On a thread at CleanupATF.org, they have a long "clarifying letter" from Bill Newell, one of the supervisors of the operation, and an agent's response:

"ill Newell you are a lying coward. This letter was written not to clarify anything you lied about but to attempt to avoid an indictment. You repeated your lame justifications and made excuses, the same thing you have done since the day you set foot in ATF. You lied to Congress and you are trying to cover your lies by calling the Whistleblowers, Gil and Canino liars. You are a 100% chickenshit.

You are a whiny little bitch to actually compose a letter to Congress after you lied to their faces and blame your lies the the "pressure" you feel and that this is "unlike anything you have ever experienced". You are pathetic to say that this experience has taken a toll on your health and family.

What about the toll on Brian Terry's family? What about the toll's on the hundreds of dead Mexican citizens and their families? All you ever have or ever will care about is you. You are one self-centered m_ _ _ _ _ rf _ _ _ _ r.

Here is where I am going to get off and probably be deleted. My friend is Jay Dobyns. Newell you are quite possibly the biggest hypocritical pussy ever in ATF to make the statements that you made in your letter knowing what you did to him and his family. You helped your boys Gillett and Higman go above and beyond to try and frame him as an arsonsist and attempted murder. You turned your back just like you did in Fast and Furious. I don't have the vocabulary to state what a double-standard POS you are. You think Dobyns felt pressure living under the allegation that he tried to murder his family for the last three years? How about the toll on his family have to hear that their husband and father intended to burn their house down on them and murder them? Then you lied under oath in that case too.

Don't bother to appologize. Whatever it is that happens to you, it is not evil enough to balance what you have done. Rot in hell."

Right after the murder of BP Agent Brian Terry, a posting on CleanupATF.org reported that ATF in Phoenix was letting 500 guns go to Mexico, and the possibility that Terry had been murdered with one of them. Acting Director Melson and Chief Counsel Rubenstein discussed, not the issue of letting the guns leave, but the issue of whether the anonymous poster (certainly a ATF agent) broke agency policy by discussing it.

"Suspects may alter their behavior if they know that law enforcement is allowing certain firearms to 'walk' into Mexico. In addition, public knowledge of this type of operation potentially places informants and undercover agents in jeopardy. Finally, public disclosure of such information could ATF's working relationship with Mexico.”

OK, Phoenix has let hundreds of guns walk to the Mexican cartels, and they may have been used to murder an American LEO. That's not remarkable nor disturbing. What is disturbing is that cartels might react if they knew this was being done with the agency's blessing, or that the Mexican government, which has been kept in the dark, might become upset.

"He said he supported law enforcement, and never imagined a thousand weapons, or half of the entire Fast and Furious inventory, would "walk" out of his store. And when arrests were not forthcoming, "every passing week I was more stunned," he said.

According to a confidential memo written by assistant federal prosecutor Emory Hurley, "Mr. Howard had expressed concerns about the cooperation he was providing and whether he was endangering himself or implicating himself in a criminal investigation."

Other firearms dealers shared his concerns. At the nearby Scottsdale Gun Club, the proprietor sent an email to Agent David Voth. "I want to help ATF," he said, "but not at the risk of agents' safety because I have some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern AZ.""

And PJ Media points out that FBI gave the cartel insider $70,000 in "seed money" to start buying the guns. It probably came from stimulus dollars... although why the drug cartels would need economic stimulus is not clear. So now we have a multi-agency program not only to allow the cartels to get American guns, but to also to fund the buying.

And speaking of multi-agency efforts, there's Grenadewalker, where a fellow was exporting hundreds or thousands of grenade casings (I assume practice grenades) into Mexico, and there making them live, to supply the cartels. Customs caught him, they wanted to prosecute him, but DoJ (via the US Attorney) insisted that they let him go.

Fox News reveals that (1) there was a third Gunwwalker gun found at the scene of Agent Terry's murder; (2) this one came from Texas; (3) the FBI covered it up to protect its informant within the cartel; (4) that informant was the guy who procured the three guns.

David Codrea critiques Eric Holder's sorta-denial that high level DOJ people knew of the gun-running. "Something that, at this point, I don't think is supported by the facts." That's not "it isn't true"; it's attorney-speak for "you can't prove it. Now, anyway."

OK, so his subordinates were letting guns go to the drug cartels, getting people killed by the dozens, arguably committing acts of war against Mexico, without bothering to ask permission from their superiors. And the discipline imposed is ... the US Attorney for AZ has to resign, and the Ass't US Attorney directly involved gets transferred across the hall, from doing criminal work to doing civil work. Sounds more like "OK, you did your job, but we've been a little embarrassed by this" rather than "you insubordinate morons got people killed."

Washington Times has the story. The allegations are that the office explicitly approved getting the guns into Mexico, one way or another, and that an Ass't US Attorney aided the process by by telling agents they must meet impossibly high standards before they could stop or question suspected straw men.

As was suggested in comments to earlier posts, it's becoming increasingly hard to deny the suspicious that the object of getting guns to the Sinaloa Cartel was ... to get guns to the Sinaloa Cartel.

In Foreign Policy, an article that places the blame for Operation Gunwalker on... the NRA. You see, they kept BATF from compiling dealer records that would be searchable by name, and blocked bills that would have registered all guns, so when President Obama told them to crack down on drug cartels, they only thing they could do was ... ship guns to drug cartels. Somehow I don't quite follow the logic.

The Issa hearings "were useless." He thinks it terrible that three relatives of the murdered Border Patrol agent were allowed to testify.

"There are roughly 100,000 licensed gun dealers in the United States. ... many are so-called "kitchen table" dealers who sell secondhand guns out of their businesses, homes, or even cars." Few who sell out of homes have survived the 1990s legislation that requires dealers to be zoned for business, and no dealer can sell out of a car.

"The U.S. government keeps track of everyone who owns a car or a house..." Really? I thought counties and States did that.

William Newell, who ran Gunwalker, is a "devoted, articulate lifetime civil servant," who might even have become head of ATF as a result of his brilliant gunwalking.

The agents who blew the whistle were "newly posted to Phoenix," and "had no idea of the scale of the gun-trafficking problem when they arrived in Arizona. They were used to interdiction and apparently were not properly read into the larger aims of Fast and Furious." Narrowminded novices, who didn't understand how letting guns flow to cartels would lead to busting cartel leaders. Nor can I. Nor does the author explain just why, other than a general suggestion that somehow it would happen. And it's curious that the head of the agency said that gunwalking astonished him, too.

The article sees it as regrettable that no one understands " that letting guns walk was precisely the point of Fast and Furious."

"This move by the Administration indicates that Director Melson may be being used as a scapegoat for a much larger problem within ATF and DOJ. It appears that other senior officials at DOJ may have been involved in this deadly operation. The American people and Congress will not be appeased until we have the whole truth about how and why Operation Fast and Furious was authorized. "

"While the reckless disregard for safety that took place in Operation Fast and Furious certainly merits changes within the Department of Justice, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will continue its investigation to ensure that blame isn't offloaded on just a few individuals for a matter that involved much higher levels of the Justice Department. There are still many questions to be answered about what happened in Operation Fast and Furious and who else bears responsibility, but these changes are warranted and offer an opportunity for the Justice Department to explain the role other officials and offices played in the infamous efforts to allow weapons to flow to Mexican drug cartels."

"“The resignation of U.S. Attorney Burke and the demotion of Acting ATF Director Melson are only small steps on the long road to accountability for the Department of Justice. ... I will not rest until the American people are informed about who authorized the program, who allowed it to continue despite grave misgivings on the part of dedicated ATF agents, and who is responsible for the lack of transparency from DOJ thus far.”

"WASHINGTON - Today's uncovering of secret multi-agency program for shipping illegal Gibson guitars to Mexican drug cartels left red-faced officials of the U.S. Department of Justice scrambling for an explanation amid angry calls for a Congressional investigation.

"I have ordered all agency personnel to fully cooperate in any Congressional inquiries, including all reasonable document request, as soon as we can redact them with Sharpie pens and lighter fluid," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The secret program came to light early this morning in the border town of Nogales, Arizona, after what was described as a wild battle of the bands between members of the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas, two of Mexico's most notorious violent drug gangs.....Justice spokesman Gary Evans said the Nogales incident yesterday showed the program was a success. "By putting American guitars in the hands of Mexican gangs, I think we've proven what we've warned all along - that Mexican gangs have access to American guitars. Hopefully this will lead to sane and sensible guitar controls.""

Story here. Melson is made "senior adviser on forensic science" to the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy. Which essentially drafts documents reflecting legal policy, and has no need of forensic experts. It's obviously the "room with a desk and pencil" reassignment, where you give the guy just that, and figure he'll eventually quit out of boredom.

His replacement is US Attorney B. Todd Jones, who appears to have had no relationship to ATF in the past.

Three of the four whistleblower agents in Phoenix are reassigned to the East Coast. Sounds like punitive transfers ... just send the agent as far away from his present station as possible, then in another year send him across country again, until he quits.

Article here. Its defense is that it did run a story on February 1, and a more extensive one on July 26. I think it valid, though, to ask why the six month silence in between, while CBS and others were breaking the story (starting in March). I mean... in April, Issa threatens Admin officials with contempt. Nothing in the Post. In mid-June, the Committee held hearings. The Wall St Journal covered it, the Post kept silent. On July 7, it was public knowledge that Acting Director Melson had met secretly with committee investigators. Nothing in the Post.

In the ongoing prosecutions of the Gunwalker straw men and conspirators, the family of murdered Border Patrol Agent Terry has filed for status as victims, and the local U.S. Attorney opposed their filing. The argument appears to be that GCA violations are victimless crimes, hence no one can be a victim of one, even if they get killed as a result of it.

Looking over the statute on victim rights, I can't see much practical reason for the opposition. A victim gets notice of court proceedings (which their attorney could pull up anyway), can rarely be excluded from the courtroom, and has a few other rights of little importance to the government here. I'd guess the rationale for the objection was one of impressions: the government doesn't want the Terry family seen as a victim of Gunwalker. But you'd think whoever made that call would have realized (1) they are already seen as a victim of Gunwalker and (2) what about the impression your opposition is going to make?

A known supplier of guns to the Sinaloa Cartel tries to buy 20 guns from an FFL, the FFL contacts BATFE, and ""Our guidance is that we would like you to go through with Mr. Patino's request and order the additional firearms," ATF Supervisor David Voth wrote the dealer in an Aug. 25 e-mail."

The operation may have a link to a DEA operation that essentially recruited the Sinaloa Cartel as an ally against the other cartels, as part of which DEA turned a blind eye to its drug shipment. I say may have because the court pleading on which the story is based gives details about other cooperation with the cartel, but guesses as to whether the gunrunning was part of this. On the other hand, the Sinaloa Cartel does seem to have wound up with an enormous share of the walked guns.

"The reassignment comes at a time the Mexican Justice Department known as the PGR is reportedly conducting a criminal probe into the Fast and Furious Operation. It has also requested transcripts of Newell’s recent testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Concern had surfaced recently within ATF that the Mexican government might arrest Newell if he came down there as the attache."

"The reassignment comes at a time the Mexican Justice Department known as the PGR is reportedly conducting a criminal probe into the Fast and Furious Operation. It has also requested transcripts of Newell’s recent testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Concern had surfaced recently within ATF that the Mexican government might arrest Newell if he came down there as the attache."

Story here. The silence of the mass media here in Tucson is amazing. Understand, the BP agent was murdered about thirty miles south of here. The gunwalking was ordered by the Phoenix office, about 120 miles north of here. One of the whistleblower agents lives right here. But newspaper coverage has been limited to one short story, a month or two ago.

Page one today: Giffords returns to Congress. OK, that's a proper headline story. Then ... July was hot, and homebuilders are taking remodeling work during the slump. Page two: library writes off overdue charges, kids getting free haircuts, city hires police, and US moves to dismiss suit over medicinal pot.

Page A 16: "Gun smuggling scandal spurs Mexican backlash" Ah, a little mention. The scandal itself is given one sentence. Followed by the remark that the guns walked only equaled 10% of those traced to the US. It does quote a security consultant in Mexico City asking what would have happened if a government agency had planned to run guns to the enemy in Afghanistan. A good question.

Go to this thread at Cleanup ATF and scroll down to the entry by onesparkz, on july 30 11:17 PM. Understand that McMahon was the supervisor overseeing Phoenix during Operation Gunwalker, and now he'll be second in command of the agency internal affairs unit, i.e., in a position to punish dissident agents. Here's the take of one agent commenter:

"Here's my analysis on McMahon. He was essentially in charge of the western region (ipso facto maravilloso, in charge of Gunwalker). Main Justice knows it, and consented to his promotion.

The promotion itself was a message that DoJ intends to charge full speed ahead on its defense-slash-deflection of Gunwalker.

But it's also the sound of a shotgun chambering a round for street agents: One of the men directly culpable for this project is now in a position to slit their throats (a la OPR). They seem to be telling their agents to be very careful what they say, and to whom."

I would like to take this opportunity to announce several changes to the Field Operations (FO) command staff that will be effective August 1st. These changes were made to provide strong leadership, a more efficient span of control and provide enhanced communication and support to the field.

We have created the position of Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) for Programs and this will be Michael Boxler. DAD Boxler, who was the DAD for the Central Region divisions, will oversee the following FO programs: Fire, Explosives, Alcohol and Tobacco Programs and Training; as well as the Firearms Operations Division (FOD).

SAC Mark Potter, who has been the SAC in the Philadelphia Field Division, will be promoted to the DAD for the Western Region field divisions. He will also oversee the International Affairs Office (IAO).

SAC Ron Turk, has been the SAC in the New York Field Division, will be promoted to the DAD for the Central Region field divisions. He will also oversee the Special Operations Division (SOD).

DAD Julie Torres will remain as the DAD for the Eastern Region field divisions and will oversee the Field Management Staff (FMS).

DAD Bill McMahon who has been the DAD Western Region will transfer to the DAD for Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations (OPRSO).

I would like to personally thank Mark and Ron for their leadership in their field divisions and I look forward to having them a part of the FO executive staff. I would also like to extend the same thanks to Bill for his leadership and work with the Western Region field divisions and IAO. While we will miss his guidance in FO, I know he will take the same professionalism and dedication he has shown us and direct that into his new position at OPRSO.

Mark and Ron are welcome additions to our FO team, and I look forward to them joining Julie, Mike and Harry McCabe.

We will have some tough and challenging times ahead of us and I believe that we will come out of this a stronger and better organization. In order to accomplish this, we must all work together and foster open communication at all levels, take a close look at the way we do business and ways to improve our ability to efficiently and safely carry out our mission. Our thought process around investigations and inspections must include the risk /reward of our plans and actions with public safety being at the forefront. We must also consider disruption, interdiction and investigation in a tiered approach with the safety of our citizens as the rule.

Your FO executive staff will continue to provide you the leadership and assistance you need in conducting your business. Our tradition, together with our ability to turn adversity into strength is exemplified through our tenacious work ethic and successful investigations and inspections. Each one of us should be proud of the work of our agency and the men and women of ATF.

Here's an interesting slide that was shown. Newell was the head of the Phoenix office. The recipient, Kevin O'Reilly, is the White House's National Security Director for North America.

Some interesting segments from the transcript are in extended remarks, below. The witnesses were Carlos Canino, Acting Attache To Mexico For The Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives, Darren Gil, Former Attache To Mexico For The Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives. Jose Wall, Atf Senior Special Agent, Tijuana, Mexico. Lorren Leadmon, ATF Intelligence Operations Specialist, William Newell, Former Atf Special Agent In Charge Of The Phoenix Field Division, William Mcmahon, Deputy Assistant ATF Director, field Operations West.

The Toledo Blade's ombudsman outlines the story and concedes the paper should have carried it sooner. "Frankly, while there has been nothing unethical about The Blade's not having covered it, Operation Fast and Furious probably deserves more scrutiny."

If there is a theme to the above (it may be coincidence), damage control seems to have shifted from "nothing was done wrong" to "don't mention the Attorney General or his deputies."

And in the meantime, the House Committee on Oversight releases releases another report, and holds more hearings -- live video here. Just listened to a guy doing damage control, claiming that straw purchasers by definition have a clean record -- which, as posted below, isn't true when the ATF and FBI "fix" the background checks -- and usually get probation -- Federal sentencing guidelines call for 1-2 years in prison for that offense, if first offense.

Mr. Meehan is now questioning former SAC Bill Newell. He's asking who originated the plan. Newell refuses to name a single person, finally says four people in his office did. Did the other agent who testified participate in it? He was aware of it. Mr. Mahon, the "plaza boss." regional head for a cartel, you said he gives orders to buy. Plaza boss is in Mexico, right? Yes. Now, you claim the strategy wasn't to allow guns to go to Mexico. How does that work? Other agencies involved? Yes, ICE, IRS, DEA. Did they know about this program? Yes. Were they aware guns were being walked to Mexico. Witness evades, they were aware of the strategy.

Ms. Burke: was this gunwalking a breach of ATF usual ops? Agent Canino: First time I've heard of it happening in 22 yrs of service with ATF. I initially heard of Agent Dodson's allegations, didn't believe them. Then I saw documents that convinced me he was telling the truth. Other agents say same thing. First time anyone has seen this.

Fox News is reporting that two of the "straw men" buyers had felony convictions (not to mention outstanding warrants, an indictment, and other details, all of which would be barriers to buying firearms). Yet they managed to buy over three hundred firearms, and pass the background check. Arizona is very good about reporting prohibited persons to the Feds. The probability seems to be that someone "fixed" the background check system so these guys could keep buying arms and running them to criminals.

I'd assume that'd require a high-level "fixer." If this is correct, I think it's clearly aiding and abetting a felony, which makes those guilty liable for the felony itself. Passively observing a felony wouldn't cross that line. Coaxing reluctant dealers to make suspicious sales might cross it. But sabotaging the background check system so that illegal sales are approved is, I think, clearly over the line.

Announcement from Issa's Committee here. Tuesday, July 26. Witnesses will include AATF's former attache to Mexico, who reported opposed the operation, its Phoenix Special Agent in Charge who' at the center of the operation and reportedly backstabbed the attache, and several others.

The most impressive revelations are of data that Acting Director Melson gave them. ATF was ready to cooperate until it was gagged by the Deputy Attorney General. They informed the Deputy AG that they had documents that contradicted the "official story" Justice was giving out. A memo describing an important meeting -- held to convince a cooperating gun dealer who was getting worried about allowing all these suspicious gun buys -- was actually written over a year later, after the controversy broke. Melson says there is a memo that is a "smoking gun," which Justice is still refusing to reveal to the Committee.

This is the hottest political story since Watergate ... and of course (with a few exceptions) the MSM is ignoring it. The government itself sets up operations that run thousands of guns to drug cartels, gets two Federal agents and hundreds of Mexican nationals killed, then the coverup goes right up to the Deputy AG (which means it goes at least to the AG: his deputy wouldn't want to be accused of going behind his back), an agency head goes defector. And the MSM is in "move on folks, nothing to see here" mode.

Welcome, Instapundit readers! If a comment gets bounced, try posting without your email address. I had to block gmail, yahoo and a few others due to waves of comment spam, but set it so you can comment while giving no email address at all.

Interesting comment in this chain at CleanUpATF.org. It's about a third of the way down, or you can search for "Ike," Essentially--

ATF uses traces to spot problem dealers. Whatever the reason for the trace, it counts as a "crime gun," and too many traces of those to a dealer marks him as a suspect. The dealers who were cooperating with ATF and making the sales will be flagged for the foreseeable future as massive sources of crime guns.

Moreover, with etrace now available to Mexican and Guatamalan authorities, with every trace they are sent the dealer's name and address, and the buyer's identification. "If the firearm is traced successfully, first purchaser Information is provided, including purchase Date, Full Name and Full Address, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Race, Sex, Social Security Number (may be redacted for certain foreign traces), Drivers License Number, Height, Weight." In short, data that would be an identity thief's dream.

I wonder if anyone cleared that with the Privacy Act? That statute has a variety of requirements, including announcing in the Federal Register all agency databases and their routine uses. It also forbids release of data on a person, with certain exceptions. The one for law enforcement releases doesn't seem to cover this, it allows release "to another agency or to an instrumentality of any governmental jurisdiction within or under the control of the United States for a civil or criminal law enforcement activity if the activity is authorized by law..." 5 USC 552a(b)(7). The data is not being released to an agency "within or under the control of the United States."

And the quote of the year: "In May, 2008, William Newell, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Phoenix Office reported: "When 90 percent-plus of the firearms recovered from these violent drug cartels are from a U.S. source, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to stem the illegal flow of these firearms to these thugs." [and how is that working for you, Bill?]"

UPDATE: reader Ike writes, in a comment the spam filter won't allow:

"f the dealer is out of business, ATF has the complete documentation for
the trace right down to the first retail purchaser - including the
4473. Make no mistake - this is a permanent registration record.

If the dealer is still in business, ATF will call the dealer (or pay a
visit) to retrieve the personal purchaser data from the 4473 form -
which becomes a permanent registration record..

First, the Arms Export Control Act, 22 USC §2778.. It authorizes the President to define defense articles and regulate their export. In so doing, he must consider the possibility that export could "support international terrorism, increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of conflict..."

Those defense articles may not be exported without a permit, issued by the Secretary of State ( Department of State guidelines here), "except that no license shall be required for exports or imports made by or for an agency of the United States Government

(A) for official use by a department or agency of the United States Government, or

(B) for carrying out any foreign assistance or sales program authorized by law and subject to the control of the President by other means."

The firearms involved here were not being exported for official use by an agency, nor as part of foreign aid. This a lot narrower than the GCA exception for acts by a government agency, and for good reason: the purpose of this statute is to control executive agency actions. No gun running to foreign governments or persons without a paper trail (and in cases of large transactions, a prior request for Congressional approval).

Any person who willfully violates these provisions "shall upon conviction be fined for each violation not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both."

There have been some reports of agents having directly transferred firearms to drug cartel buyers, in order to boost their "street creds." That'd clearly be a violation. In other situations, the person who actually exported the firearms would be in clear violation. But what of those government supervisors who allowed the arms to flow -- especially the cases where a protesting FFL was told to sell the guns anyway?

Dave Workman has the story. Melson was scheduled for a formal interview later, at which he'd be accompanied by Justice attorneys. Instead he met with the investigators, bringing his personal attorney, on July 4. I think the day is significant. Government attorneys would be off-duty. Government employees would be at home, reducing the chance of accidentally being seen and identified. And Melson wouldn't be on duty, so no one would wonder where he'd gone. I know from my gov't days that Justice doesn't see itself as attorney for your agency, let alone for you. It sees itself as attorneys for the entire government (and at the higher, appointed, levels, as attorneys for the Administration. They throw agencies (let alone acting agency heads) under the bus whenever required to do so.

Melson was in a tight bind. He probably read the stories about his forthcoming resignation as leaks meant to prepare him for becoming the fall guy in this. He was once a careerist with full civil service protection (to the extent the higher levels care about that), then he became SES, with lessened protection, and may even have become an appointee (that I'm not sure about) who can be fired at will. He's about to get shoved out the door. When he goes to the investigators, he's desperate, essentially defecting.

How much did he tell them? I think we'll know soon. He's apparently pointing the finger at Justice, which would mean at least an Assistant AG (political appointee), and very likely AG Holder himself, who certainly would have approved whatever the AAG was doing.

I've never heard of an agency head defecting, as it were. Closest think I can think of is John Dean, counsel to the President, meeting secretly with investigators during Watergate, and maybe "deep throat," Mark Felt, who was Associate Director of the FBI, leaking to the press. And Watergate involved quite a bit less than running thousands of guns to the most violent criminals on earth with fatal results.

"The Department’s leadership allowed the ATF to implement this flawed strategy, fully aware of what was taking place on the ground. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona encouraged and supported every single facet of Fast and Furious. Main Justice was involved in providing support and approving various aspects of the Operation, including wiretap applications that would necessarily include painstakingly detailed descriptions of what ATF knew about the straw buyers it was monitoring."

"While leadership at ATF and DOJ no doubt regard these deaths as tragic, the deaths were a clearly foreseeable result of the strategy. Both line agents and gun dealers who cooperated with the ATF repeatedly expressed concerns about that risk, but ATF supervisors did not heed those warnings. Instead, they told agents to follow orders because this was sanctioned from above. They told gun dealers not to worry because they would make sure the guns didn’t fall into the wrong hands."

"After months and months of investigative work, Fast and Furious resulted only in indictments of 20 straw purchasers. Those indictments came only after the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry."

"It was not until after whistleblowers later reported the issue to Congress that the Justice Department
finally issued a policy directive that prohibited gunwalking."

Email from a supervisor: "Whether you care or not, people of rank and authority at HQ are paying close attention to this case .... we are the tip of the ATF spear when it comes to Southwest Border firearms trafficking ... If you don't think this is fun you are on the wrong line of work, period!"

That's about as strong a statement of "if you don't like running guns to Mexico, HQ will see that you are fired" as you are likely to see in a bureaucratic communication.

A whistleblower agent: "When we hit the ground in Phoenix, say, and the original 40 straw purchasers were identified, and I can’t remember if it is 240 or 270 guns that they knew at that point that these guys were responsible for ... we should have landed on every one of those people the minute that we hit here. And the ones that we landed on that we couldn’t make cases on, at least they would have been on notice that we were watching and they would have stopped buying, or every time they did, the flag went up and we could have been on them then.

And of all the ones that we didn’t land on, several of them would have spoken to us, a couple of them even maybe would have worked for us as a confidential informant or sources, which is how you climb the ladder in an investigation into an organization."

Another agent: "I cannot see anyone who has one iota of concern for human life being okay with this..."

An agent so frustrated at being told NOT to stop a straw buyer's car full of guns that his radio response made other agents think he was in distress and needed help. The buyer had spotted that he was being tailed and there was no longer any reason to hold off and let him get away. "there is a verbal screaming match over the radio about how . . . what are you talking about? There is no better time or reason to pull this guy over than right now."

Agent describes a supervisor: "Whenever he would get a trace report back . . . he was jovial, if not, not giddy, but just delighted about that, hey, 20 of our guns were recovered with 350 pounds of dope in Mexico last night. And it was exciting." Supervisors saying, if want an omelette, you have to break some eggs.

A DoJ letter: "At the outset, the allegation described in your January 27 letter – that ATF “sanctioned” or otherwise knowingly allowed the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser who then transported them into Mexico – is false." Another: "It remains our understanding that ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious did not knowingly permit straw buyers to take guns into Mexico."

"In modern times, the bureau, now housed in the Justice Department, is concerned mostly with enforcing gun laws and regulating the gun industry, an unusual dual mission..." Why is that unusual? Most agencies both regulate activities and enforce violations.

"agents of the bureau, using a surveillance technique known as gun-walking...." No, it's not an accepted technique, it's a term invented by critics to describe the insane procedures followed.

"The Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986, for instance, banned the A.T.F. from conducting more than one unannounced inspection of a gun dealer per year..." No, it bans that only IF the dealer has not had a single gun traced to him. Nevermind that traces are not limited to crime guns -- the point is that if a single crime gun in Mexico traces to a dealer, he can be inspected every time one does.

"Congress has blocked the bureau from keeping a centralized computer database of gun transactions." No, only databases established after its effective date, which allows the tracing database.

“They’re left with literally trying to physically follow these guns out of the gun shop,” said Dennis Henigan, vice president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence." OK, so they had to allow thousands of guns to get to Mexican drug cartels because they didn't have better databases? I suppose seeing illegal buys and ignoring them (or even pestering dealers into allowing them) is not a "database"? And that agencies cannot stop crimes if they are not on a "database"? Real cops and supervisors do that every day.

Sen. Grassley says he has the figures. The wording of his release isn't entirely clear, but it seems to be referring to 24% of guns that the Mexican government asks to be traced (which are minority of its crime guns, and certainly disproportionately those of American make). And of course a gun sold by an FFL to a honest person, and years later stolen and smuggled out, would count as a gun traced to that dealer even though his transaction was 100% proper.

So the actual percent of Mexican crime guns traced to American FFLs is likely far less than 24%, and a good portion of that may be stolen. The actual percentages are a far cry from the Administration's claims of 80-90%. But for some reason I doubt you'll read this in WaPo or the NY Times anytime soon...

I'd have thought they'd have more sense than to extensively quote William Newell, the Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Office, and the fellow who pushed Operation Gunwalker, and reportedly led a coup to oust the ATF attache' in Mexico, when he opposed it. As a person responsible for seeing that 2,500 guns went to the drug cartels, I suppose he is an expert on the subject, but still....

I've seen this done before, when I was a bureaucrat. Their argument is that they need a specific statute directed at gun trafficking. OK, straw man buys are felonies (the buyer has to lie on the 4473, where it asks if is buying the gun for himself), any resales in quantity for profit are a felony (being a dealer without an FFL), exporting guns without a permit is a felony, knowing transfer of a firearm to a person who intends to use it in violence is a SERIOUS felony, and conspiracy to do any of these is a felony. Why do we need another statute?

Answer: US Attorneys are declining to take cases because, among other things, the penalties seem too low. OK, US Attorneys work for some guy named Eric Holder. All he has to do is issue an order.

Story here. Since "witnesses" will include Chuck Schumer and several representatives of antigun groups, you can see where this is going. WaPo can at least take comfort that someone is holding a hearing that they can cover.

WaPo acknowledges the issue exists, but with an article that begins "A chief Republican critic of a controversial U.S. anti-gun-trafficking operation was briefed on ATF’s “Fast and Furious” program last year and did not express any opposition, sources familiar with the classified briefing said Tuesday." Although the anonymous sources did not say he was told that the operation included letting guns "walk," the lead sentence tries to create that impression. The total description of the hearings is one sentence: "But several ATF agents testified before Issa’s committee last week that they were ordered not to stop people they suspected had illegal guns."

Why the paper didn't cover the hearings is not mentioned. I remember you often heard about an issue in the Post only after the paper was brought in to do damage control.

"Current and former federal officials say their hands are tied because of weak U.S. gun laws. Possessing a gun isn't a crime, unlike, say, possessing cocaine. And, in order to bring a prosecution, the government must demonstrate a straw purchaser had bad intentions."

No, they have to demonstrate he was a straw purchaser. He was buying a gun for someone else, and checked the box on the 4473 that asks if you are buying the gun for someone else as "no."

"Issa and ATF whistleblowers who protested to no avail with their supervisors in Arizona say the number of Fast and Furious guns still unaccounted for could top 1,000. But authorities are telling Congress the numbers could be far lower. Documents obtained by NPR and provided to lawmakers suggest that 568 weapons tied to Fast and Furious have been located: 372 in the U.S. and 196 more in Mexico."

I'd expected NPR at least to do simple math. The number of guns allowed to walk has been reported as 1,700 or 2,500. Subtract 568 from those and you get 1,132 to 1,932, neither of which is "far lower" than a thousand.

Here's the story. The importance is that Cefalu is an ATF agent who started blowing the whistle on corruption and waste, and helped to break the story of Operation Gunwalker -- so ATF just fired him. It'll probably be the usual situation: fellow gets excellent evaluations, and commendations, then he reports corruption or abuse, and suddenly his evaluations go terrible. Or perhaps the agency just fired him, without bothering to salt the mine with bad evaluations. (As a Federale, you only get evaluated once a year, end of the fiscal year (October), and they may have been in a hurry).

That would get interesting, esp. if the White House appoints Traver as the new acting director. (I find it strange that an agency, whose head is subject to Senate confirmation, has been going for years with an unconfirmed acting director).

Summaries from the Oversight Committee. Sounds as if knowledge went right to the top. Most interesting: the FFLs who were helping were given security videocams to document the straw buys, and the Acting Director of ATF got the IP addresses of the cameras so he could watch the events from his office. That's about as involved as it can get!

Sen. Grassley will lead off with his experience trying to pry documents out of the agency, I suspect in order to lay more basis for a contempt citation, He'll be followed by relatives of the murdered Border Patrol agent, and by several of the agents who blew the whistle. Then an Assistant Attorney General goes on the hot seat. More detail by David Codrea and by Dave Workman.

David Codrea has a post on new revelations in the case, with video interview of a a BATF informant (i.e., not an agent) here. He has some interesting insights. Agencies don't need more money, they need less turf fighting and human intel. He was ordered to give info to one agency only, and not to communicate with others. He was informed by contacts in Mexico that full auto guns were coming in with approval of US government agencies. The smugglers had both American and Mexican LEOs paid off. Corruption is on both sides of the border, probably worse here. He also talks of military weapons being smuggled from Mexico into the US. He knows of one agent who gets a down payment, with final payment made after delivery.

Weapons coming in northward include a lot of US made weapons sold to Latin American governments, which now turn them for a profit in Mexico.

When ATF debriefed him... they sought info on where guns were being obtained, who was smuggling them, etc., but the purpose seemed to be to ensure nobody got caught with egg on the face. When he brought up the gun that killed Agent Terry, where he had reported the identity of the killer, he was told to forget about it, someone else was investigating that. He doesn't believe local LEOs are corrupted; they wouldn't have a role in moving guns or drugs, the cartels want to corrupt Federal agents. Local LEOs have no power over a port of entry.

Evidence indicates tunnels are being driven near Douglas AZ, from the Mexican side. Met with a contact involved in the tunnel, he said it would cost $100-200K, but since you can move tons of cocaine thru it, that's pocket change.

Worked with many, many agencies, Federal and State. Pay can be percent of drugs seized, but lately is low. Initial work was driven by concerns about terrorism and bio weapons. Then was in it for the money, now talking in hopes someone will see info and act. Drug war, terror war, claims that they are being fought successfully is a lie. Programs are failures. Drug war ... the amount of drugs coming in, not being interdicted, drug use steadily increasing. Heart of problem is in senior management, dismantling operations that are effective. Disillusioned, because been on ground, saw drugs and guns, reported it, watched cases dropped or dismissed, or agents say can't do it because his boss doesn't want to get involved in a field operation.

"Historically, ATF has placed much emphasis on the roles of the straw purchaser and the Federal firearms licensee in identifying and disrupting firearms trafficking schemes. However, straw purchasers by definition lack serious criminal records and therefore are frequently viewed as undesirable targets for criminal prosecution."

"FFLs remain both an important source of firearms (often unwittingly) to firearms traffickers and an investigative source of information. On occasion, FFLs become targets of criminal investigation and prosecution. When criminal wrongdoing by FFLs is suspected they will be aggressively investigated and recommended for prosecution. Corrupt FFLs constitute high-value targets due to the damage they cause and the special responsibility they hold to ensure that firearms are not illegally diverted from lawful commerce."

"Additionally, we must not overlook the fact that firearms traffickers and other violent criminals also obtain firearms from secondary sources... Analysis of source location trace data for specific market areas, when adjusted for time-to-crime, may not only reveal actionable investigative leads, but also that secondary sources (e.g.,gun shows, thefts and private sales) are a greater source of trafficked crime guns than licensed dealers."

"This strategy will present certain challenges as some of the persons we seek to investigate, indict, and apprehend will reside outside the United States and/or may be priority targets of other U.S. law enforcement agencies. When appropriate, this strategy envisions that ATF will refer information and actionable intelligence to the Government of Mexico and/or other U.S. law enforcement agencies."

Hmmm.... straw man purchasers are uninteresting targets. The cartels themselves are out of our reach. That seems to leave FFLs and gunshows.

And the responsibility for the agency-sponsored gun running seems to go right to the top. P. 18 is devoted to HQ monitoring of operations. "The monitoring and coordinating of Southwest border investigations will be the responsibility of the recently established Firearms Operations Division."

P. 19: "The controlled movement of firearms, ammunition, explosives, explosives devices, and/or components or non-functional “props” of such items across the U.S.-Mexico border from the United States shall be coordinated with and approved in advance by Bureau headquarters and the MCO [Mexico Country Office, of ATF]"

"n a second, equally explosive disclosure, a law enforcement source tells Fox News, that ATF undercover agents were acting as the straw buyers and purchasing guns using government-issued false identifications and then providing those guns to cartel traffickers to gain credibility in their undercover roles. In that capacity, the ATF "provided 2, 50 cal. machine guns to traffickers that are loose in Mexico and unaccounted for," the source said."

While opinions may vary, I've always thought that undercover operations should stop short of committing acts of war.

When you, [the Assistant U.S. Attorney], and I met on May 13th, I shared my
concerns with you guys that I wanted to make sure that none of the firearms that were sold per our conversation with you and various ATF agents could or would ever end up south of the border or in the hands of the bad guys. … I want to help ATF with its investigation but not at the risk of agents‟ safety because I have some very close friends that are U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern AZ[.]

Rep. Darrella Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight, has issued a subpoena, after informal requests for documents had no effect. This makes it more of a showdown: if a subpoena isn't complied with, he can move (I think it takes a majority of the entire House) to hold the recipients in contempt of Congress, so that enforcement can then become holding them behind bars until the deliver the documents. Even if that doesn't happen, the floor fight over the contempt charge will bring a lot of attention.

From the Mexican magazine Proceso, with apologies for inadequacy of translation from Spanish:

"Fast and Furious: Everybody Knew"
. . . .

"- What exactly was that operation? This Weekly asked Dodson.

"We identified a group of multiple buyers who had the task of acquiring weapons not for themselves but for others." Dodson explained that the original idea was to track all the weapons were bought in order to stop the traffickers and then to the recipients. Even the Mexican drug traffickers.

"We watched these guys when they bought the weapons, acquired 5, 10 or 20 in one visit to the gun shop. On leaving they met with others in public parks or private garages. Weapons were transferred from one vehicle to another and then taken to the recipients. "

- What happened to the weapons once they were transferred to other cars?

"We had been forbidden to detain individuals, we could not confiscate weapons or identify the people involved. Our sole mission was to observe. That's how we lost track of weapons that came to Mexico."

Even the sellers knew

. . . .

Gun shops where they bought guns and rifles also knew of the operation. The ATF asked them to participate in the case.

Dodson's account: "The gun shops were more concerned than the ATF about the multiple sales because they knew that those who were buying weapons did not want them for their personal use. With this approach, the gun shops thought they were doing the right thing, they had no idea that we (the agents) were not intercepting the weapons. "

. . . .

However, agents of the ATF in Phoenix seized only a couple of arms shipments to Mexico. "The other weapons that ended in ATF's possession were seized by other agencies and they informed us," says Dodson."

Now the former ATF attache to Mexico, in charge of agency operations there, is talking to CBS News. He was told that the operation had been approved by the acting ATF director and by higher officials at Justice Department, and that Assistant Attorney General and head of the Criminal Division Larry Breuer knew about it. And apparent it did result in a lot of traces that would illustrate how US guns were ending up in Mexico:

"Gil first found out something was amiss in early 2010 when serial numbers from a flood of guns used in cartel crimes were all tracing back to the same case in Phoenix: "Fast and Furious." But when Gil's analyst checked ATF's computer files to find out more, he hit a brick wall.

"Not only did he not have access, I as the attache, the head agent in Mexico for ATF operations, did not have access," says Gil. He was locked out.

That was a red flag because Gil says as the senior ATF official in Mexico, it was his job to approve any ATF operation involving Mexico; and he didn't approve this one."

UPDATE: in the comments, Dedicated_Dad hits it on the head:

"Please consider:

(1) Have dealers - working as "confidential informants" - sell guns to straw buyers and report details to ATF.

(2) Allow guns to be smuggled into Mexico, without the knowledge of anyone IN Mexico - not the Mexi.gov, not US ATF agents or their boss the "attache", not ANYONE.

(3) ????

(4) Make some big case!

Please tell me what must -- or even theoretically COULD -- happen at step "3" for this to work!"

Exactly. How could anyone imagine (3). If the Mexican authorities don't know, they can't investigate (might not anyway, but if they don't know they surely cannot. ATF can hardly mount an on the ground investigation there, esp. without notifying local law enforcement. All that could ever be ascertained was that guns shipped to cartels wind up at crime scenes, and everyone already knew that. That'd get you nowhere toward making a big case.

Another thought: I'd initially figured knowledge of this operation wouldn't have gone to high levels. The managers who were running it probably would have figured that if they sent the info up the chain of command, somebody might stop it, or have lots of awkward questions, or delay until he got a lot of consensus (as in CYA -- spread the blame around if things go bad). But now it appears knowledge did go high. The guy who is telling the attache that it's gone to the agency head and higher is implicitly telling him: "if you keep arguing about this, you'll eventually have to explain to someone a LOT more powerful than you, and someone's gonna phrase it as "the operation you allowed -- there's some attache guy who thinks only a moron could have allowed it." And now it appears knowledge got as high as an Assistant Attorney General, an appointee. If it got that high, odds are good it would have gotten to the AG. And if it got to him, odds are decent that it got to the White House. I note the official denials are that anyone high up "approved" it. You can of course know of something, decide to let it run its course, and still deny having "approved" it. CYA and all that. "They told me about it, I just assumed they knew what they were doing."

"America’s frontline agencies aren’t always coordinated fully and often feel powerless to arrest suspected gun runners in the absence of tougher federal laws. As a result, weapons from an ATF sting in Arizona called “Fast and Furious” unwittingly ended up in the possession of a trafficking ring in a neighboring state while other guns crossed the border and at least one showed up at a murder scene in Mexico."

"James Cavanaugh, a former ATF commander, said stemming the flow of guns to Mexico is a Herculean task given the lack of law-enforcement resources and political will.

“I don’t see how it’s realistically going to slow down if we don’t make changes in resources, laws and policies,” he said. “It’s important because people are being slaughtered.”

Agents and prosecutors have been especially passionate in pleading for Congress to pass a specific law banning gun trafficking, and have repeatedly watched as courts threw out cases against straw buyers who made purchases that were technically legal."

1) ATF is saying that straw purchases are "technically" legal? Interesting news to folks who were prosecuted for them.

2) If they didn't have the resources to investigate, or the laws to enforce, why did they let the sales go through? Is this "we're going to keep on doing it and if you don't give us money it'll happen again." ?

3) Let's see... the 4473 form has a box asking if the buyer is purchasing for himself. Lying on the form is a felony. Transferring a gun with reasonable cause to believe that it will be used to commit a felony is another violation, punished by up to ten years' imprisonment.

And then there's 22 U.S. Code §2778, giving the President broad power to restrict export of "defense articles.' and requiring registration of any exporting the same (violations punishable by up to ten years' imprisonment) and 18 U.S. Code §554:

"Whoever fraudulently or knowingly exports or sends from the United States, or attempts to export or send from the United States, any merchandise, article, or object contrary to any law or regulation of the United States, or receives, conceals, buys, sells, or in any manner facilitates the transportation, concealment, or sale of such merchandise, article or object, prior to exportation, knowing the same to be intended for exportation contrary to any law or regulation of the United States, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both."

And here's an ATF press release announcing indictments for illegally exporting firearms to Columbia. I bet the defendants would be surprised to hear that ATF says there are no laws against exporting arms!

"The Bureaus second most powerful manager Deputy Director Edgar Domenech, himself filed a whistleblower complaint and publicly stated that the Bureau of ATF has a propensity for reprisal and he “knew” such actions would result in career suicide."

"A Special Agent attempts to resist an investigation using unlawful wiretaps. The Special Agent openly challenges and reports it to superiors. After 20 + years of exemplary service, the next 1 ½ years results in the Special Agent and his family being transferred 5 times, suspended for 3 days, attempts made to have a psyche evaluation conducted, 2 letters of reprimand, and ultimately a termination."

"Complainants or those who would challenge unethical and/or illegal acts by Special Agents in Charge or senior managers are often threatened with collecting their next pay check in Fargo, North Dakota or Anchorage, Alaska."

"An anonymous letter was sent to the Department of Justice OIG from Las Vegas, Nevada alleging government Fraud waste and abuse. The OIG provided the letter to ATF Internal affairs for follow up investigation into the allegations contained in the anonymous letter. One of the primary objectives by ATF Internal Affairs investigators was to identify the author of the anonymous letter. During theInternal Affairs investigation, ATF identified an Agent who ATF had perceived to have been the whistleblower. This Agent became the recipient of vindictive personnel actions that ranged from a letter of reprimand to a notice of proposed removal from Federal service. Further investigation identified the true author of the letter and he/she admitted to being the author of the letter. ATF management then directed their attack on the actual whistleblower. ATF continued their attack on the perceived whistleblower and terminated him from Federal service. The Agent was later reinstated by ATF after appealing his removal to the MSPB [Merit Systems Protection Board]."

Note: if posting comments, and you have a gmail or yahoo email address, just leave the email blank. I had to block those due to unbelievable waves of spam comments, but set it so you can comment with no email address given.

"Ramos: How many weapons are we talking about here?...that were allowed to pass from the US into Mexico?

Dodson: I can say that only in this specific case, up until the ATF admitted the policy existed, and I think this number is a little low, but if you accept the official numbers, it is around 1,974 firearms.

Ramos: Did you complain to your bosses about this operation?

Dodson: Yes, regularly.

Ramos: What did you tell them?

Dodson: That this strategy would not work, but they continued despite my objections."

Please make every effort for the next two weeks to maximize coverage of ATF operations/enforcement actions/arrests at the local and regional level. Given the negative coverage by CBS Evening News last week and upcoming events this week, the bureau should look for every opportunity to push coverage of good stories. Fortunately, the CBS story has not sparked any follow up coverage by mainstream media and seems to have fizzled.

It was shoddy reporting , as CBS failed to air on-the-record interviews by former ATF officials and HQ statements for attribution that expressed opposing views and explained the law and difficulties of firearm trafficking investigations. The CBS producer for the story made only a feigned effort at the 11th hour to reach ATF HQ for comment.

This week (To 3/1/2011), Attorney General Holder testifies on the Hill and likely will get questions about the allegations in the story. Also (3/3/2011), Mexico President Calderon will visit the White House and likely will testify on the Hill. He will probably draw attention to the lack of political support for demand letter 3 and Project Gunrunner.

ATF needs to proactively push positive stories this week, in an effort to preempt some negative reporting, or at minimum, lessen the coverage of such stories in the news cycle by replacing them with good stories about ATF. The more time we spend highlighting the great work of the agents through press releases and various media outreaches in the coming days and weeks, the better off we will be.

Thanks for your cooperation in this matter. If you have any significant operations that should get national media coverage, please reach out to the Public Affairs Division for support, coordination and clearance.

Video here. Complete with an agent, still on the job, who talks about it. (That takes serious cojones -- I mean, he has to go into the office tomorrow, with the same supervisor that he's talking about, who now regard him as a "snitch," to be ruined).

They're talking thousands of guns that only got to Mexico because ATF supervisors said let them go. Superiors telling agents who complained that this is "fun" and they can go out and find a different job if they don't like it.

Agency Secretly Endorsed Practice of Letting Guns "Walk"; ATF Agent to CBS News: "God Only Knows How Many Guns Were Used to Kill People"

Tonight on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC (6:30 PM, ET), CBS News Investigative Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports on a major scandal building within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), one of America's top law enforcement agencies. CBS News uncovered evidence which supports the allegation that the agency that is supposed to stop border gunrunning to Mexico's drug cartels actually participated in letting it happen. Attkisson reports that these guns have turned up at the scenes of violent crimes, including the murder of a U.S. border patrol officer in Arizona.

CBS News reveals that "Project Gunrunner," an ATF operation that aims to stop the flow of weapons from the U.S. to Mexican drug cartels, has allegedly facilitated the delivery of thousands of guns into the hands of criminals. Often bought with cash, and sometimes brought in paper bags, sources tell CBS News that several gun shops wanted to stop the questionable sales, but were encouraged to continue selling by the ATF, so that they could continue gathering intelligence and see where the weapons ended up. This dangerous tactic is referred to as letting the guns "walk."

Veteran ATF agents called this strategy "insane" and "appalling," with one, speaking under a condition of anonymity, telling CBS News, "We were fully aware the guns would probably be moved across the border to drug cartels where they could be used to kill." CBS News has been told that at least 11 ATF agents and senior managers voiced fierce opposition to the strategy.

Sharyl Attkisson's full report, including a potential link between "Project Gunrunner" and the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, broadcasts tonight on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC.

Confirmation that the gun used to kill Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry came from sales by a dealer cooperating with an ATF investigation. Senate Judiciary Committee is said to be investigating.

It confirms another detail that was being reported on the internet. Understand, Terry was on something like a SWAT team, on an extremely dangerous mission. They were out at night seeking border robbery teams that range into the US to rob entering drug runners. I suppose the only thing more dangerous than encountering a drug cartel team is encountering a gang who robs those teams. Anybody who figures on taking on the Zetas is dangerous indeed.

The claim had been made that the BP team was under orders to attack them with nonlethal bean bag loads, and only to draw real weapons if the perps shot back. Terry's family says in the interview that the other members of the BP team said they shot beanbags at the robbers, who then fired back and killed Agent Terry.

Pdf letter here. I always figured Grassley was OK, nothing better, but this is extraordinary. It's obvious (1) he isn't going to let up and (2) he's getting VERY good internal intel. He knows that the FFL who sold the rifle used to kill Border Patrol Agent Terry had met with BATFE over a year before sale of that firearm, that the local Special Agent in Charge sent a memo to HQ right after the killing, the names of various task forces and when various presentations were made to HQ. And whoever is doing the work knows how to deal with heel-dragging, and which requests are most important.

Video here. There have been local rumors that ATF allowed considerable quantities of guns to go south of the border, saying it was necessary to their investigations, and without informing Mexican authorities of the arrangements. That'd make it rather unlikely to have aided investigations, though it might help to inflate the numbers traced to US sales...

For many years, the answer would have been that to the MSM gun laws were a pet project and thus ATF a pet agency. Today, it may be a more generic problem. I don't see much reporting in depth on ... well, on anything. If the reporter couldn't understand the issue in five minutes (or quote a press release in that time) it gets ignored. It's true with local news, too ... at least when sports aren't at issue.

In National Review Online, John Lott discusses the record of record of Andrew Traver, nominee for Director of the agency.

"Mr. Traver has done more than make clearly inaccurate claims about so-called “assault weapons.” He has supported banning .50-caliber rifles, regulations that would force many gun shows to close down, the Chicago handgun ban, and repealing the Tiahrt Amendment, which protects sensitive trace data from being misused in frivolous municipal lawsuits against gun makers. He also worked with the Joyce Foundation, which has funded gun-ban groups such as the Violence Policy Center, on the “Gun Violence Reduction Project.”"

"It said the ATF focuses largely on inspections of gun dealers and investigations of "straw purchasers," rather than on higher-level traffickers, smugglers and the ultimate recipients of the trafficked guns."

The point is likely that ATF is adhering to its decades-long customary approach: see if you can bust a gun dealer or an illegal buyer, rather than trying to look for big fish.

"It also said the majority of recovered guns in Mexico were not traced, although trace requests to ATF for guns recovered in Mexico increased from 5,834 in fiscal 2004 to 22,000 in fiscal 2009. It said most trace requests from Mexico are considered "unsuccessful" because of missing or improperly entered gun data."

This supports what has been reported before -- claims that X% of Mexican cartel guns come from the US are inventions.

"Mr. Fine said that in its response to the report, ATF provided new information regarding the accomplishments it said it had achieved under Project Gunrunner in fiscal years 2006 through 2009, but that most of the data differed from the information ATF provided his investigators during their review. He said investigators determined that the new data contained discrepancies and questioned its validity."

Surprise! Another interesting point made is that ATF doesn't share data with the Mexican authorities. Its Deputy Director responds: "these very dynamic circumstances create information-sharing challenges that ATF and the government of Mexico are diligently collaborating to overcome." He's trying politely to say "Are you kidding? Many of their government officials are on the cartel's payrolls, and the rest will be if they ever get information of value. You might as well share the intel with the cartels directly, and eliminate the middle man>"

Story here. It does repeat the false mantra that "80 percent" of guns confiscated in Mexico come from the US. But it notes that ATFE does not cooperate or share intel with ICE, and ATFE tracing operations in Mexico get little cooperation with ATFE in the US, and supervisors pushing small investigations that can be completed quickly rather than larger ones.

Needless to say, the agency says that if it just had more money and laws it wouldn't be incompetent: "One senior ATF official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that many of the problems identified in the report stem from a lack of funding from Congress and weak U.S. gun laws, including the absence of a specific statute making weapons trafficking a federal crime."

UPDATE: yes, the "we need another law" excuse is especially lame, since it's already illegal to export firearms without permission, to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, to transfer guns to a nonresident of your State, to transfer guns having reason to believe they would be used in crime, etc., etc..

Here's the pdf. I know it's been remarked that the only sector of the economy (other than guns) that is growing is the government sector. Look on p. 10 (pdf page 10, page six in print). In the last ten years the agency's budget has doubled, from half a billion to a billion, and its employment has increased by 20%, from a little over four to a little over five thousand people.

Over at Cleanup ATF. All sorts of things that outsiders would never think of. Treasury and Justice agencies have different outlooks, merging their functions results in friction. Having an acting director for years means nobody at the top who can make major organizational decisions (and everyone knows he'll be gone, soon, in agency terms). Further, in a turf war with other agencies looking to move into your turf, an acting head can't stand up to their moves. Rumors of moving alcohol and tobacco functions to FDA. Supervisors getting away with expense fraud (and with sexual ... well, to call it misconduct is like terming an axe murderer a misuser of a garden tool).

These things can get nasty! ATF vs. FBI, fighting over explosives investigations. The division had been that FBI gets it if it involves terrorism; ATF gets it if it doesn't. But drawing that line in the real world is difficult. So with any high profile case, the investigation has to be preceded by the inter-agency battle.

"Glenn A. Fine, the Justice Department's inspector general, reported last year that battles were flaring at crime scenes from Baltimore to Houston, delaying witness interviews and impairing the government's ability to spot trends in bombings."

This Wednesday and Thursday, Mary 26 & 27, CNN is to air a two part series on BATFE. Given the number of scandals, screwups and betrayals, I can see why it requires a two part series to cover, or at least begin.

Story here. Customs seized a lot of airsoft rifles, apparently thinking they were machineguns, and then gave them to ATF. PajamasMedia filed a FOIA request for supporting documents ... and got a reply which is utterly incomprehensible.

1) ATFE and FBI are engaged in turf wars over explosives cases. They retain two separate labs for investigation, and race each other to crime scenes in the belief that the agency who gets there first becomes lead agency.

2) FBI has a backlog of untranslated terror-related audio files. They can even say how big it is, but it's somewhere between 4,700 and 47,000 hours of audio. That's not counting other untranslated files and documents. "Our audit concluded that not translating or reviewing counterterrorism and counterintelligence materials can increase the risk that the FBI will not detect information that may be important to its counterterrorism and counterintelligence efforts."

3) Justice has a National Gang Information Center. It has no operating budget, and receives about three requests a year from local law enforcement.

It's linked, over at CleanUp ATF.org. Pretty appalling. (1) The way they screwed this guy over, while letting his bosses take trips at taxpayer expense to hobnob with starts; (2) how they cover up for favored supervisors caught in major wrongdoing and (3) how they and Hollywood pal around.

This the case where the agent sued, and they sued him for slandering the US government! I've never heard even of the idea that the government can file a civil suit for defamation; the only thing that comes close is the prosecutions under the Sedition Act ... which was allowed to expire in 1804 or thereabouts.

ATF issues permits for importation of 13,000 barrel shrouds, then decides they are silencers. From the description, it sounds as if the shrouds are designed to look like suppressors, but the barrel really extends to the front end of it ... in which event I can't see how they could suppress the sound any.

UPDATE: at AR15.com, they ask some interesting questions. For example, if it is indeed a silencer, why is ATF asking them to ship it back to the manufacturer for modification? Wouldn't that involve sending an NFA device in interstate commerce without a permit? And transferring an unregistered NFA device?

Story here. When I heard this claim, I thought it improbable that they could find an Ass't US Attorney sufficiently nuts to sue, or counterclaim, for reputational damage to the US or an agency over a critical book, let alone one written by a whistleblowing employee.

Some interesting developments over at Clean Up ATF. An agent had infiltrated the Hell's Angels and Aryan Brotherhood, they managed to find out where he lived, and he and his family got credible violent threats. The agency agreed to put him in the LEOs' version of witness protection and kept screwing up. When he pointed that out, his superior retaliated by withdrawing what little security he did have, and his house promptly was burned to then ground. He sues for breach of contract, ATF moves to dismiss, and loses the motion.

Then, apparently, ATF gets a US Attorney to sue him for having published a book that allegedly damaged its reputation. (I guess the expiration of the Sedition Act limited the remedy).

At the bottom of the page is a link to the court's order denying the motion to dismiss. Skim thru to p. 25, where the court lists the allegations of the complaint. Pretty spectacular.

It's getting lively over at CleanUpATF.org. A deputy director who gets his "nails done" on agency time, supervisors grabbing the fanciest seized vehicles for their own use, a supervisor who left his government business card at a cat house, a large portion of headquarters flying off to Vegas for the SHOT Show, etc.

Always found it amusing the way many assume that the government is rational, objective, and unselfish in ways the rest of the US is not. Fact is you've got the same humans doing each job, and nobody should be surprised that many agencies work on promote your buddy, steer business toward your buddy, get rid of critics and whistleblowers, build your empire and the public be damned.

Minor example: in my Interior days, an issue arose regarding certain land (LOTS of land) on which the government had, in the 19th century, bought easements to run railroads thru. The contracts provided that if the land ever ceased to be used for railroads, the easement would end and the title revert to the landowner. The areas in question hadn't been used for railroads in decades, and the tracks and ties had been removed long ago.

But those lands would be just the thing for uniting hiking trails, and there was big kick on for creating some that run for hundreds or thousands of mile.

My gut call: a deal is a deal. The land reverts to the owners, Maybe talk to them and see if they'll convey it back to you for a modest sum

Interior call: let's see if we can cook up some argument that the potential that someday someone might want to rebuild a railway there is enough to let us keep it for use as a hiking trail.

Yup, utterly unselfish service to the public. I'm not denying that there are many areas where the federal government does tasks that could or would not be undertaken by private actors. I'm just saying it is unrealistic to pretend they are angelic. Expect them, like private actors, to undertake a task when it is in their best interest (i.e., they are suitably paid) and don't hand out power on the assumption they are saintly.

An interesting court transcript, from the Friesen prosecution. The prosecutor is trying to dodge and weave on why certain important documents were not disclosed to the defense, despite a court order, and neither the judge nor the defense attorney is giving him an inch of slack. "I'll go dismiss the jury for [sic--after] wasting their day. If I could sanction the government I would, but it would just be money out of the government's pocket for paying the government, but I don't want this to happen again." (No idea why he didn't sanction the individuals responsible, perhaps he just wanted to get the threat on the record in case he had to do it later).

Stories here and here. Core event: Vince Cefalu, an ATF supervisor, and lead supervisor on the case, has testified that investigators perjured themselves to get a wiretap order, and that when he objected to this, he was taken off the case.

The article also cites to CleanUpATF.org, a very interesting website with very interesting data. I'd suggest taking a look.

UPDATE: Yep, he sounds like a good guy. Problem with any bureaucracy, tho ... top guy is surrounded by people with years or decades invested in the status quo (which may include corruption, and always includes inefficiency). They control what reports he hears, what recommendations he gets, what options he hears about. At Interior, the Secretary gets nothing direct. In fact we once received written instructions not to talk to him if he called! All info must go thru the chain of command, being edited and manipulated at each stage. Even the Solicitor (head of about 400-500 people, out of the 70,000 in the department) was heard to complain that he was surprised at how powerless he was. If the bureaucracy dug in its heels, whatever reforms he wanted were undermined at many levels, people would just make sure he heard only certain info and knew only of certain options (info and options chosen so that only one option would be sane).

I am informed that the issue of Soldier of Fortune magazine will cover a Dept of Justice Inspector General's report on ATFE deployment in Iraq. Gist of reports is that millions have been claimed in fraudulent overtime (as in everyone consistently reporting 16 hour workdays, 7 days a week, or everyone reporting 15.5 hour workdays).

Summary and link to opinion here. Issue was whether a model rocket fuel crossed the line from "burns fast" into "explosive." Court gave the agency two tries at formulating and explaining its ruling, and it still couldn't get it right.

1. Deputy Director Edgar Domenech just got a government "golden parachute" out. It's impossible to sort out the internal politics involved, but he'd been demoted and said it was a result of exposing wasteful spending by the prior director. (GIven the byzantine politics of ATF higher levels, it's hard to sort out who is a whistleblower and who's back-stabbing, except that a lower level agent is always doing to be treated as the latter. Report fraud, waste, or abuse as a street level agent, and you're toast. Do it as a high enough guy to get WashPo coverage, and you have a shot).

2. The ATF director has just been given a report from the Inspector General that is pretty devastating. MAJOR screwups, their internal affairs refusing to check out complaints about those, etc.. So now offices are being told to generate favorable publicity, quickly, because this is going to get out sometime soon.

I've got a copy of a Justice Dept Office of Inspector General report on a case--can't post it because it gives names and addresses, and I haven't the pdf editing capability to delete them. But here's a summary:

ATF agent goes deep undercover, pursuing some genuinely violent bad guys. I'm talking outlaw biker gangs, prison gangs, that manner of thing. The report doesn't say, but I assume it took years. It's not like you can look up the Aryan Brotherhood or Mexican Mafia in the telephone book and send a membership application and wait for their magazine to tell you about their illegal activities. He got in, built some cases. Prosecutions result and his cover is of course blown (you can't testify under your alias).

He runs into a member of one of the groups, and they tell him outright that the group has their eye on him, will get even, he is dead meat, etc.. He requests from his supervisor an emergency transfer. With one of those the person and family are moved immediately, to a good distance, and given new identities (down to a credit history under their new names, so no one can trace them that way).

His supervisor handles it as an ordinary, voluntary, transfer. As in, it'll take weeks for approval, if we do approve, you can be transferred nearby, no new identity. In the meantime other reports are coming in. An informant who shared a cell with a prison gang leader reports that he saw a list of men marked for "hits" and noticed the agent's name on it. Etc., etc.. It becomes apparent that not one, but two groups well-known for killing people are both out to kill him.

The transfer is not modified. It's still voluntary, agent is in one duty station and would like to move to another for personal reasons, and HQ will process when they feel like it.

Maybe prison gangs have their own bureaucracy ("as district chief, I can approve ordinary hits, but hits on LEOs have to be approved by the regional director") but he survives long enough to get his transfer. An ordinary transfer, no new identity, etc.. (And he probably paid for the moving expenses).

The IG report of course faults the agency for how it was handled. But I suspect the folks who bumbled it and came close to getting their guy killed suffered no more than temporary embarassment, and that the agent will be regarded by his superiors as a pain in the neck for having complained.

Joe Huffman reports on it. A lady was driving around on April 19, 2006 (the anniversary of the Waco fire) with "remember the children of Waco" written on her windows, and got pulled over and questioned. At least from the description, it sounds like local police, rather than ATF, stopped her.

Ah, here's more. But not much more, and the link to the judge's order is inoperative.

UPDATE: comments have a good link to the judge's order. It appears that ATF asked local police to make the stop. One question to me is how the communication with the local ATF would have turned up that she had a CCW permit.

Story here. An audit found that over a three year period the agency simply lost 75 guns and hundreds of laptops. About half of the guns were stolen, and two of these were used in crime. The rest simply vanished or are at any rate missing from inventory.

The last such audit was in 2002, and listed recommendations to cure the problems. But the latest audit, covering the five years since then, found that the rate of firearms going MIA went up by a factor of three, and the rate of laptops vanishing increased even more.

Of course the agency still expects FFLs' records to be perfect....

Reading the report itself: 5 of the stolen guns were never entered in the NCIC; all but a few dozen of the 418 missing laptops had no record of what was on them, and if sensitive data was lost (the agency did not start encryption until 2007); of the laptops that were examined in the here and now, a third were not encrypted despite the year-old policy, etc.

Here's an article on the latest. Len is a firearm inventor and designer, who starting having serious problems with ATF Technical Branch after he testified as an expert witness against them several times.

Word is circulating that a number of ATF supervisors, from field up to high HQ levels, Assistant Directors and such, are being effectively suspended (effectively, but without using that term) while higher powers look into their competence and allegations of abuse and/or fraud. The Inspector General is said to be taking a role, and some of those involved in matters like Red's Trading Post are under the microscope.

About time; I just hope it goes far enough. There's a lot of good agents out there, who're perfectly reasonable toward firearm owners and honest in their work. The problem is for decades the agency has overlooked the ones who weren't and too often promoted them. (It was esp. bad in the late 70s, when the driving force was producing arrests and seizures, so that the abusive guys were "getting results" and the reasonable ones were not -- and for bureaucratic reasons, including the fact that US Attorneys wouldn't prosecute, felon-in-possession case were useless).

Background: agencies are supposed to follow detailed rules when issuing a "regulation": publish a proposal in the Federal Register, receive public comment, then publish a final rule with preamble answering the major comments. Plus comply with the Paperwork Reduction Act, Regulatory Reform Act, etc..

They also issue informal rulings in specific cases, sometimes by letter. ATF technical issues rulings all the time -- this device is or is not a firearm or machinegun, etc.. In practice since these have internal precedent, they can be cited in future letter rulings. (Or as more than one person has found out, they can be completely changed, perhaps on a personal or arbitrary basis). They aren't opened for public comment, usually aren't cleared by any high official, and don't have to comply with the various reg. statutes.

The White House and OMB have started cracking down on these. Here's Exec Office of the President's guidance. Here's an Executive Order. And here's OMB instructions. (all are pdf) As I read them, they include letter rulings within some requirements of an earlier EO, and require that significant rulings (rather narrowly defined) be posted on the web with opportunity for comment.

Snowflakes in Hell has a detailed post on US v. Olofson, complete with links to major documents in the case. It appears a good deal more complicated than had seemed. Apparently the fellow to whom Olofson had loaned the AR-15 was told not to put the selector switch in a third position. I was wondering how the prosecution had met the requirement that the defendant be shown to have known a full auto was full auto . I suspect this was it.

Story here. That's not unpredictable: "merging" two agencies by having them both report to one Cabinet official doesn't change anything. Where they overlap, it has a downside -- merging all intelligence functions means those above only get one "position" rather than 2-3 that might give better insight.

FBI's had turf wars with CIA over foreign intelligence gathering, and I seem to recall with DEA over drug cases. I'm sure ATF sees FBI as wanting to grab all the best explosives cases and leave them with the uninteresting or less fruitful ones, and the FBI sees itself as the older brother with certain perks.

Story here. That's not unpredictable: "merging" two agencies by having them both report to one Cabinet official doesn't change anything. Where they overlap, it has a downside -- merging all intelligence functions means those above only get one "position" rather than 2-3 that might give better insight.

FBI's had turf wars with CIA over foreign intelligence gathering, and I seem to recall with DEA over drug cases. I'm sure ATF sees FBI as wanting to grab all the best explosives cases and leave them with the uninteresting or less fruitful ones, and the FBI sees itself as the older brother with certain perks.

Basically, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, every agency is required to file, with the Office of Management and Budget, any form it has that requests info from the public, together with its estimate of how many hours are spent filling in the form (for 4473, ATFE estimates 4.3 million hours annually; they estimate 10 million are filled out at 25 minutes each.

Then every so many years it comes up for OMB review, and the public can send comments suggesting how the time burden can be reduced. (One that comes to my mind: how about eliminating the requirement for detailed info, in the vast majority of cases where the buyer is presenting state-issued ID that already has all that recorded?)

I've heard of a number of such complaints, where some government employee can show that he revealed fraud, waste, abuse or criminality within his agency, and thereupon was demoted, given bad evaluations (which are death to promotion or bonuses), miserable assignments, etc. But this is the first time I've heard of one made by the Deputy Director of an agency. When even the no. 2 man in the entire agency can regretfully say "In retrospect, I was naive to believe that the department would welcome my honesty," the corruption in HQ is pretty grim.

To be objective: I've known enough of Washington bureaucracies to where I would bet good money that what we're really seeing is a fight between vipers. No. 2 man wants to get rid of No. 1 man, perhaps to take his job, finds out his corruptions, and uses them, but doesn't get the job. New No. 1 man decides No. 2 is dangerous, might find out his corruptions, gets rid of No. 2 and brings in a new guy who will be loyal to him. But then figure if this is how the highest level is run, you don't want to know what's going on at the Ass't Director level!

And who could punish the No. 2 man for excessive honesty? The new No.1 man.

"Domenech said ATF's acting director, Michael J. Sullivan, and other officials have taken actions meant to punish him for raising questions about [former ATF director] Truscott. The moves include transferring him out of headquarters and excluding him from meetings and duties that usually would be his responsibility.

He also alleged that, after years of outstanding job reviews and bonuses, he was given an average review in 2007, which was changed only after he complained. Because of the earlier review, however, he was denied a customary bonus, he said."
.....

"Domenech first raised complaints about Truscott's performance in December 2005 with William Mercer, then principal associate deputy attorney general, who later would be a pivotal figure in the controversy over the dismissal of the federal prosecutors.

Mercer and another official said Truscott "appeared to be in over his head, but since his name came directly from the White House, there was little that could be done about the situation," according to the complaint. Several months later, Domenech said, Mercer dismissed complaints about Truscott as coming from "disgruntled career staff."

"Deputy Director Tattoo (Domenech - “Look Carl, da plane! da plane!) was voted off ATF’s Fantasy Island (headquarters) by the Islands newcomers after they confirmed how poorly he treated his agents. All the wrongdoings that Tattoo claims have been inflicted on him, he did to others, X 1000 in severity. Paybacks a bitch. Also, when Tattoo turned in Dana Carvey (Truscott) why did he and his co-’qou’spiritors have do it annomously? They were at the very top levels of ATF management. They wouldn’t put their names on the complaint a) because they are cowards, and b) because they were fully aware of ATF retribution tactics having led their own assaults against their field agents."

Via Red's Trading Post comes this story alleging that Sullivan put an FBI agent behind bars using perjured testimony (some from a mob hitman who got early release from imprisonment), tried to cover it up, and then, after he won a new trial, set up State charges against him.

Basically, appropriations and other report language doesn't bind an agency, it isn't law. It's generally a good idea to comply (which is why report language is now being used to hide earmarks) because if an agency doesn't, the appropriations committee may cut its budget next year. In this case, I'd guess that ATF has no fear of that, so it just keeps going.

Story here. Basically, the federal sentencing guidelines provide for stiffer sentences as illegal conduct, well, gets bigger. If a guy defrauds the government out of a million, penalties are a lot worse than if he only takes ten thousand. The judge, in sentencing a contractor for fraud in relation to the flawed "Big Dig" tunnel, notes that Sullivan's US Atty office failed to investigate just how much the guy had swindled from the government, even tho it had two people who had turned state's evidence, and the defendant had boasted of ripping off the government fo 18 years. As it was, there was only evidence of an $80,000 fraud, and the judge had to sentence him to 15 months. The judge added that there was evidence the total frauds in the Big Dig went from $3 to 15 billion, yet there had been few prosecutions.

It might be an interesting group. From my observation, ATF has a wide span of agents. I mean, there would be two reasons to join: you like to work around guns, or you hate guns. My contact with ATF in my immediate area has all been good. Inspectors and enforcement that they import from elsewhere -- not good at all. Historically, some offices are good, some are antigun, some honest, some are corrupt.

In my gov't experience, Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement was much the same. Most offices just did their job. Some could get totally out of control. Problem during my stint was that high level managment covered for and sometimes encouraged the latter (I hope that it's changed during the intervening 15 years, but have no data). I think ATF has a similar problem: the high level doesn't sweat about the corrupt or oppressive offices, nor reward the ones that worry about criminals and ignore everyone else.

While I'm on an ex-bureaucrat's roll (and any thinking person who has been a bureaucrat has become at least a small l libertarian): there is actually a MAJOR disincentive for a federale to worry about real problems.

The criteria for being promoting are essentially that you are spending a lot of time on complex issues. Now, making a felon in possession case, of a real street criminal, gang shooter, whatever, is a social good. BUT it's not very complex, is it? Check with local cops, find guys arrested for CCW or whatever who have a felony rap, paraphrase their report, submit to the US attorney. Child's play. So forget about getting promotions. Nevermind that almost everyone would agree that you're doing a good job and creating social good. Cook up a complicated case against an FFL -- get a promotion.

So why not promote the good guys anyway? Because the Office of Personnel Managment every now and then audits an agency, trying to catch them doing that, and if a sufficient number of people have been promoted despite doing non-complex cases, it dings the agency and cuts back on how many higher-level slots it is allowed to have.

In the old days, the agency just promoted somebody from the liquor side of the agency to hold the job and get his "high three" in before retirement. They usually did little good and little bad. This time it sounds like the Admin. brought in the archtypical political hack. On the other hand, this IS the Boston Globe, and the comments suggest another side to the story.

"A gun manufacturer who specializes in legal reproductions of historic weaponry told WND a recent audit of the business found no discrepancies in his records, but it did reveal mistakes in the ATF records.

"What was of particular interest to me was that the NFRTR [BATFE's bound book of machineguns, etc] was off by four machineguns," Len Savage, of Historic Arms LLC, said.

"It is so bad [the BATFE own record keeping] that the inspectors have a form for correcting it using dealers records," he said. He submitted a Freedom of Information Act request and discovered that the federal agency "is very quietly trying to fix their own inept record keeping by using our [store and business] records to fill in the gaps."

An ATF inspector, Herbert Blount, told Savage that when the agency moved to a new building, officials "lost/misplaced" records for more than 500 businesses and replacements were being sought."

A while back I posted on how the ATF Seattle Office had had to back off from claims it was involved in a massive roundup of gang members ... which turned out to be a much smaller roundup of non gang members, for non-gun offenses.

Story here. ATF official announces 77 arrests in a gang sweep in Spokane, a roundup of "the worst, chronic offenders with ties to illegal firearms and violent crime."

Then spends two weeks evading reporters' questions. Because it turns out there were only 35 arrests, and they included ones for driving infractions and misdemeanors. Only one gun was seized in the "sweep."

"I guess he may have taken some liberties with how those numbers were represented," an ATF spokesman admitted.

Story here. Back when they had paper records (as do most FFLs, since a computer program has to have ATF approval and few do), they were told to file 4473s for past years in alphabetical folders (i.e., 2006 -- all last names beginning with A) but have them in chron order inside the folder. That'd make a trace report a bit simpler, since bound books would give you the date of sale. Then a new ATF inspector came around and wrote them up on a violation notice for that, pointing out that the regs say you can put them in alphabetical order (sorting out all sales for an entire year) or chron order, but the regs say nothing about a mixture of the two systems.

Red's has since managed to lease an ATF-approved computer program and used that. Now the inspector has decided the system is inadequate because of how it handles lay-away sales.

The story illustrates how complex and often arbitrary the system governing licensed firearms dealers is. If you have an inspector who is decent and practical, life is simple. The same system overseen by an inspector who is a nit-picker, or has a grudge for you, can be impossible.

I've received the attached pdf file (small, 134K) from someone in the know. It details ATF agents' complaints regarding how managers are conducting themselves. Here are a few snippets:

" Field agents have attempted to challenge the un-ethical, and illegal actions of field managers through various means in recent years only to meet with retaliation so destructive it almost inevitably results in the challenges or allegations being withdrawn."

" Fear of ATF leadership has replaced transparency. Lack of trust and the absence of good faith in trying to resolve these issues have caused a growing number of Agents to rely upon legal means to invoke the protections and seek redress. Record numbers of EEOC, OIG, OSC, whistleblower and internal grievances face the new management team. Requests for congressional intervention by Agents across the country..."

"The EEOC complaints over the last 2 years number in the hundreds. The overwhelming percentage of which contain allegations of retaliation. "

" First impressions in the field are that Acting Director Michael Sullivan is a competent and professional leader who possesses the skill to lead the Bureau of ATF&E. However, he continues to act on filtered information from those who have created these problems. These problems and those responsible must be dealt with before the Bureau can restore trust in it management team.
With the appointment of Deputy Director Ronnie Carter and Assistant Director Billy Hoover, the signal was clear. The intent is/was to restore ethical and professional leadership to the Bureau.
Perhaps the problems are too significant to place on the shoulders of 3 men, or maybe the Bureau is beyond repair. Either way, the complaints continue as does the retaliation, abuse of authority and the climbing number of EEOC, OSC, OIG and internal grievance complaints."

Having worked in the bureaucracy, I can see the comment about the incoming director. The guy on top may be good, but he knows only what his assistant directors tell him, and they know only what the guys below them tell them, etc., etc. At each stage of this, information is filtered to remove bad news, protect your unit, protect your buddies, etc.. If you send up info that makes your unit look bad -- that's gonna hurt you when your superior does your yearly evaluation, right? By the end of the filtration, the guy in charge hears nothing but "Everything is being run perfectly, and there are no problems, and anyone who managed to get your ear about problems is a lying sack of offal." Then of course they hunt down the guy who talked. He's not a team player. He makes his bosses look bad. Jack him around, transfer him around, seek out excuses to give him a bad evaluation, maybe see if you can tag him with misconduct (hmmm... did he use his official car for a grocery run?).

The greatest fear of mid-level is that the boss may get unfiltered information. At Interior I was a simple staffer. Even my secretary didn't work for me -- she reported, like me, to my boss. Yet one day we received written orders that if the Secretary of Interior called us to ask for data on a legal case, we were to refuse to talk to him and tell him to go thru channels. (The order was given, and stuck, because our ultimate boss had in fact better White House connection than the Secretary. Our ultimate boss was a good guy, not a bureaucrat, so I'd wager the mid-level folks had gone to him with horror stories about the Sec. becoming a loose cannon if he got real data, and sold him on the idea).

[UPDATE in light of comment: I did start under Watt, in '82, but the Secretary under which this happened was Manny Lujan. I forget the Solicitor's name, but he was a good one, in this case I'd assume spun by mid-level management. The full story: the bean-counters, the admin people, came up with the idea of a litigation book, in which each case in which we were involved would have one page, no more and no less. The thought we were involved in a few hundred cases. It turned out to be many thousands. Sent by, in those days, a 1200 baud modem. The first try locked up the mainframe for a solid day. Afterwards, each office had to send them in by floppy, sent overnight. Then someone in HQ had to review them lest the horrific sin, a typo, be found. But our corrections didn't go back to the author, so next month would have the same typos...

Anyway, at the bottom of each page was " For further information contact: John Smith, 208-0124." A bureaucrat knew that mean John Smith was handling the matter, kindly do not think you can contact him, you go thru channels. Lujan, who was a nice guy, didn't understand that, actually read the briefing books -- by now a set of about six big three-ring binders -- and calling people. Hence all the uproar. He was getting raw data, from someone who actually knew what was going on!

In High Country News. It reports that the owner of Red's is playing the movie to, literally, packed houses. It makes some errors (just got back from vacation, no time to list) and puts in a prof's rather antigun sociological observations.

"Personally, I can't see any legitimate reason for ATF personnel conducting a routine inspection not to be photographed. What possible problem is there with photographing public employees performing a public duty in a public place? Certainly if ATF agents were photographing ordinary citizens in such a setting, we'd hear that there was "no legitimate expectation of privacy," right?"

David Codrea has an interesting post on the latest developments in BATFE's attempt to revoke the FFL license of Red's Trading Post. BATFE has complained in a motion that people have taken pictures of their inspectors during an inspection, and mentioned blog posts. Note these are not enforcement agents, who might go undercover and have legitimate concerns about having their images taken, but inspections people, who audit records.

PS--word is that the photographer(s) are locals who don't appreciate the move to revoke their FFL's license one bit.

The Plain Dealer has the story. This is in relation to BATFE activities at Richmond, VA area gun shows a while back, where they were getting addresses off 4473s and driving to the address to make sure the person lived there (and in some cases asking the spouse if they were OK with them buying a gun), etc..

Two top ATFE officials have been effectively demoted. The Washington Post treats it as a retaliatory demotion: they had "opposed many questionable management and spending decisions by the agency's former director."

I've blogged about the spending scandal before, here and here and here. Agency politics can get quite byzantine. The one that is clear is that these are demotions, and serious ones. Just why is another question. Perhaps because they opposed the spending, or more likely because they are suspected as whistleblowers, or maybe because they are seen as whistleblowers who acted out of a grudge (there were some reports that the whistleblowers were due for reassignment by the director and their actions were meant as payback). Who knows?

1. Many problems are not being reported. 47 of a group of 58 that were supposed to be reported to the Justice IG were not. For others, while a demotion or firing was decided upon, there was no record showing that it had actually been done.

2. Of 76 files where the agent was disciplined, 16 contained no documentation at all to show why, and not one showed a report of investigation.

3. ATF rules allow a supervisor to both bring charges and be the judge of those charges, which is done most of the time. It also has no consistent standards, so that each case is a law unto itself.

"Dobyns, among the most celebrated agents within the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, has lived on the edge from the beginning of his career.....

In grievances filed with the ATF, Dobyns claimed the agency failed to protect him when he was threatened in the line of duty and then harassed him when he complained about the lack of security. He has submitted a multimillion-dollar claim alleging the bureau ignored death threats against him and his family.

According to a grievance Dobyns filed in May, ATF administrators sought to undermine his credibility by spreading false allegations that he was psychologically unfit for duty and a danger to himself or others. Dobyns alleged in that 83-page record that he was subjected to unwanted transfers, denied security, accused of fraud and blocked from getting a Medal of Valor.....

Vincent Cefalu of Modesto, Calif., a 20-year agent with grievances pending, recently sent a letter to Sullivan complaining about "unethical practices and widespread distrust." ...

Billy Queen, a former agent who wrote Under and Alone, a book about his infiltration of the Mongols biker gang, said he retired in 2003 after enduring four years of harassment from ATF administration. Queen said he still loves the bureau but believes it is beleaguered by incompetent bully managers...."

"In a letter to Carl Truscott, ATF director, the New Jersey senators questioned the need for expensive office upgrades while laws governing firearms are not adequately enforced and equipment for field agents is under the knife.

“[These] unnecessary upgrades, including nearly $300,000 in upgrades for your office suite alone, ha[ve] put this project $19 million over budget, just as the ATF is eliminating funding for 500 bulletproof vests and 300 new cars for field agents who enforce the nation’s federal gun laws,” the letter said.

A recent press report outlined extensive upgrades proposed by Director Truscott for the ATF’s Washington headquarters including such costly items as a $65,000 conference table, and $100,000 for hardwood floors. "

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a short story on it. Apparently they were serving a search warrant and were shot thru the door. One was hit in the knee, the other in the lower abdomen (I'm guessing below the bulletproof vest, or perhaps the vest stopped it and the medical treatment is for the bruising. Suspects are in custody.

Benczkowski was majority counsel to the House Judiciary Committee, underr Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wisconsin). Before then he was with DoJ's Office of Legal Policy and Sen. Dominici of New Mexico.

The agency starts out as the Alcohol Tax Unit of the IRS. In 1934, it is assigned enforcement of the National Firearms Act. It stays the Alcohol Tax Unit.

In 1952, it becomes the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division. Still no mention of firearms.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 adds explosives to its responsibilities, and so it is renamed the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Division, later the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Explosives is nowhere to be found in its title.

Finally, in 2003 it gets renamed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

It appears that for some reason 20-30 years pass between the agency being assigned a field, and that being reflected in its title! Even the agency has problems with it, since the webpage proclaims that in 2003, when it became ATFE, "In addition, the agency's name was changed to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to reflect it new mission in the Department of Justice."

The Justice Inspector General has issued the report (pdf) on fiscal misconduct by former ATFE director Carl Truscott.

It's a long document, but juicy. They find that he spent massive sums of money to line his office with wood paneling and to improve the HQ gym, at a time when the agency was so short of cash that agents were using outdated bullet-resistant vests. A team was assigned to pick just the right wood and design. He wanted built-in bookcases, custom milling, and even wanted his pantry wood paneled, and a wood floor to match that of a vice presidential office. The millwork alone would have cost a quarter million, and his floor $62,000. He planned another $100,000 for gym improvements.

And that he hired on agents knowing he would have no budget to pay them.

When they renovated the firearms licensing center, he directed that it have a gym, too.

When his nephew wanted to do a high school video on the ATFE, he directed that various offices assist with research, and provide tours, and he himself delivered the nephew's freedom of info act requests to the office handling that (hint, hint). Substantial agency time was spent ensuring that the nephew got a good grade.

He also created an agency Executive Protection Branch, so that he could have bodyguards. For a time they even stayed with him when he worked out in the gym, until he realized there were several of them working out at the same time as he did, anyway. They escorted him on trips, including his commute to HQ. The new office had a chief and four bodyguard agents, plus three assigned autos. The bodyguards served as his drivers during his trips to the office and back, He went out of his way to keep them inconspicuous when he visited the Hill. They drafted a formal protocol for his visits to field offices. When he did so, an advance agent went to the location a day ahead of him to make sure everything was proper for his reception. Two more agents went with him to the airport. One handled the car and the other went inside to get his boarding pass and make sure he got special treatment in boarding the plane, since he hated waiting. A bodyguard said escorting him thru crowds was like the parting of the seas, and people asked who this important official might be. Sometimes on arrival 3-4 cars escorted him, because they were needed to "secure lanes" for his car (apparently they used emergency lights to ensure he got thru traffic quickly). He was also assigned a medic on trips as an escort, just in case he had a medical problem. The medic carried a defib unit, several decontamination suits, etc.

When he went overseas, a squad of 3-4 accompanied him, and stayed at $300-400 a night hotels.

When he had lunch with friends, two female agents were instructed to function as waitresses. At the 2005 International Assn of Chiefs of Police meeting, he had two agency photographers assigned to tail him constantly and take photos.

He hired cronies, and kicked up their job evaluations over what their supervisors had given them.

Conclusion is that since he has resigned, there is nothing to be done.

Note the resignation -- that of course means IG was free to go to town on him. However much might be done by his successors, well, we may never know. But this guy apparently wanted to live like a king, or at least a duke, to have an office and an escort worthy of a president or VP, etc. Your tax dollars at work.

OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
950 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20530

DEAR INSPECTOR GENERAL,

EMPLOYEES AT THE BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS, AND EXPLOSIVES HAVE LONG BEEN DISTURBED WITH THE ACTIONS OF SOME OF OUR EXECUTIVES. THE TIME HAS COME TO SHARE THESE CONCERNS WITH YOU FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. FOR THE GOOD OF OUR BUREAU, WE IMPLORE YOU TO SEEK ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS SURROUNDING WASTE, MISMANAGEMENT, AND ABUSE OF POWER BY TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS:

>ARE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BOUCHARD AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CHASE VIOLATING DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RULES BY USING GOVERNMENT-OWNED VEHICLES TO COMMUTE FROM HOME TO WORK IN DEFIANCE OF A POLICY THAT PROHIBITS THE USE OF TAXPAYER FUNDED VEHICLES FOR SUCH PERSONAL USE?

>IS IT A GROSS WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR THESE ASSISTANT DIRECTORS TO DRIVE LUXURIOUS NEW GOVERNMENT VEHICLES FOR PERSONAL USE WHILE AGENTS DRIVE MUCH OLDER AND HIGH MILEAGE CARS TO GET THE JOB DONE?

>IS IT AN EXTRAVAGANT EXPENDITURE OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BOUCHARD TO ARRANGE WEEK-LONG CONFERENCES FOR OVER 30 OF HIS EMPLOYEES AT PLACES SUCH AS LAS VEGAS HARD ROCK CASINO AND SEA ISLAND GOLF AND TENNIS RESORT WHILE FIELD AGENTS LACK ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT? DID THESE CONFERENCES COST TAXPAYERS $30,000? $50,000?

>IS IT AN EXTRAVAGANT EXPENDITURE OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RADEN TO ARRANGE A TRIP OF ALMOST TWO WEEKS FOR NEARLY A DOZEN OF HIS EMPLOYEES TO ATTEND A CONFERENCE IN GERMANY THAT DID NOT DEMAND SUCH EXTENSIVE GOVERNMENT RESOURCES? DID THIS TRIP COST TAXPAYERS $20,000? $40,000?

>IS IT A MISUSE OF AUTHORITY AND RESOURCES FOR DEPUTY DIRECTOR DOMENECH TO WASTE TAXPAYER MONEY BY ORDERING THE DIRECTOR’S SECURITY PERSONNEL TO PROVIDE HIM CHAUFFERED LIMOUSINE SERVICE FROM WORK TO HOME, ALTHOUGH SECURITY APPARENTLY WAS NOT NEEDED FROM HOME TO WORK, AS ACTING DIRECTOR?

>HAS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CHASE WASTED TAXPAYER MONEY BY TRAVELING, WITH HIS SPOUSE, ALL THE WAY ACROSS COUNTRY TO LOS ANGELES FOR A ATF RETIREMENT SEMINAR THAT IS OFFERED WITHIN HIS DUTY STATION OF WASHINGTON, D.C.?

>IS DEPUTY DIRECTOR DOMENECH VIOLATING ANTI-NEPOTISM LAWS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS (5 USC 3110) BY ARRANGING FOR HIS WIFE TO BE PROMOTED FROM A SECRETARIAL POSITION TO A SENIOR PROGRAM ANALYST? BY ARRANGING FOR HIS SISTER IN LAW TO BE PROMOTED FROM A FIELD AGENT IN NEW YORK TO THE AGENT IN CHARGE OF THE PORTLAND, OREGON OFFICE AND HAVING TAXPAYERS PAY THE EXPENSES FOR THIS MOVE BACK HOME? BY ARRANGING FOR HIS NIECE TO BE HIRED AS AN INSPECTOR IN FLORIDA, THEN NORTH CAROLINA?

>DOES DEPUTY DIRECTOR DOMENECH VIOLATE MERIT SYSTEM PRINCIPLES BY REGULARLY PRACTICING FAVORITISM IN MAKING PERSONNEL SELECTIONS BASED ON FRIENDSHIP AND FACTORS OTHER THAN MERIT? DOES HE CREATE AN INTIMIDATING, HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT BY RETALIATING AGAINST THOSE HE PERSONALLY DISLIKES THROUGH UNDESIRABLE, FORCED REASSIGNMENTS AND TRANSFERS?

>IS IT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RADEN TO SPEND A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF TIME IN FLORIDA AND CANADA BEING ENTERTAINED BY A TECHNOLOGY VENDOR WHILE APPROVING TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS WITH THEM?

>IS IT AN ABUSE OF AUTHORITY AND WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR BOUCHARD TO ARRANGE WITH OTHER ASSISTANT DIRECTORS A CHANGE IN POLICY THAT ALLOWED HIS SON TO BE HIRED AS A PAID SUMMER INTERN ON GOVERNMENT SALARY WHILE OTHER ATF PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS GO UNFILLED DUE TO BUDGET CONSTRAINTS?

>IS IT AN EXTRAVAGANT EXPENDITURE FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CHASE TO USE TAXPAYER MONEY TO PURCHASE A WORLD GLOBE FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS WITH GOVERNMENT RESOURCES SIMPLY TO DECORATE HIS OFFICE? WAS THIS GLOBE USED TO PINPOINT WHERE HE WOULD TAKE NEEDLESS TRIPS TO CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS AROUND THE WORLD TO PLACES LIKE FRANCE, HUNGARY, AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS?

>IS IT UNETHICAL CONDUCT FOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RADEN TO REPRESENT ATF AT FUNCTIONS AND EVENTS WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL?

THESE ARE BUT A SAMPLE OF KEY EXECUTIVES ABUSING THEIR POSITIONS AND TAXPAYER MONEY THAT WE HAVE WITNESSED OVER THE LAST 3 YEARS. AS YOU INVESTIGATE THESE EXAMPLES, YOU WILL FIND MANY MORE LIKE THEM. FOR THE GOOD OF OUR BUREAU AND ITS FUTURE, PLEASE STOP THIS IMPROPER BEHAVIOR AND MISMANAGEMENT BEFORE IT FURTHER ERODES MORALE HERE AND THREATENS THE FUTURE OF ATF.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
ATFers United against Mismanagement and Misconduct (ATFUMM)

BATFE's headquarters' website has this pdf file explaining gun laws for the public.

On pages 73 and 75 (of the pdf) it shows shotguns with barrels shortened to "less than 16 inches", and states that "Since this weapon exhibits a barrel shorter than 16 inches, it is subject to the NFA regulations governing minimum dimensions..."

Uh-- the NFA limits for shotguns are 18 inches, not 16. The 16 inch limit only applies to rifles (because after WWII the government found to its embarassment that it had sold loads of M-1 carbines, as surplus, with 16 1/4 barrels). Shotguns with barrels under 18" have been subject to NFA registration since the statute was enacted in 1934.

Considering that possession of an unregistered shotgun with a barrel under the limit is a federal felony, with a prison sentence of up to ten years, you'd expect headquarters would be a little more accurate in its description of the law to the public....

A few years ago, BATFE got $20 million for a violent crime initiative, and thereafter announced its success. Justice Dept's Inspector General thinks otherwise. (pdf file).

A quick read suggests (1) it was a pretty good plan -- zero in on small violent crime hotspots, and focus on the worst perps in them; (2) headquarters, however, designated the targets with little input from the field agents, who might actually know the local conditions; (3) followthru on the plan details was lacking (sounds as if focusing on the worst of the worst wasn't yielding many arrests, so the offices gradually expanded it to include bad guys in general, not a bad thing but not in accord with the plan) and (3) the success consisted of showing declines in gun homicides city-wide, not just in the targetted areas, and in cases where it was limited to the targetted areas, the number was so small that large percentage variations could be expected (one target area had a 50% drop -- but we're talking about going from four homicides to two, which could be sheer chance).

I suspect it'd be impossible to show success or failure by the test being used (six months before and after, in a small area). If you did put the ten worst perps in jail for ten years, the benefits will be spread over ten years -- and only begin with their arrest, which won't happen the day the program starts.

I know nothing of him, but anyone interested in rising in MA politics is, for me, a source of worry in the firearms area. The appointment seems strange, tho. The job is now subject to Senate confirmation (I'd assume this is a recess appointment). He keeps his job as US Attorney while heading the agency. That's not improper (there have been folks who sat on the Supreme Court and were cabinet members at the same time, OK, that's a bit improper), but it is irregular -- how can a fellow do two fulltime jobs hundreds of miles apart? It's possible he very literally is meant to be acting director, just give another entry on his resume', and go back to being US Atty when they find the real nominee.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting on a few scandals that may have prompted the BATFE director to resign. As I noted earlier, the resignation was not at a time a bureaucrat would voluntarily choose (just before he got in his "high three" years of salary on which his pension is calculated).

"A report on ATF is expected soon from Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, whose office has been investigating allegations that Truscott put through or proposed hundreds of thousands of dollars of unnecessary plan changes and upgrades to ATF's new 438,000-square-foot headquarters. The building, under construction in northeastern Washington, is at least $19 million over budget.

Sources familiar with the project told the Washington Post this year that Truscott planned to buy, among other things, nearly $300,000 in extras for the new director's suite, including a $65,000 conference table and more than $100,000 for hardwood floors, custom trim and other items. These sources described Truscott as overly focused on the building's luxurious details, from soap dishes to tile colors and said he wasted valuable time with innumerable project meetings and field trips to the site....

Justice investigators also questioned ATF employees about a costly trip that Truscott and others took to London last year and about allegations that ATF staff members helped assemble a school video report for a young relative of Truscott's, according to officials interviewed in the inquiry and who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation."

Funny time to do it... every bureaucrat knows your pension is based on your "high three," average of your three years' highest pay. He's been director for two and a half years. Sticking around a few more months might have made a pretty nice change to the pension.

How Discovered by OMB: In February 1997, the public notified OMB that ATF had revised Form 4473, Part I, without OMB approval.

OMB Action: ATF's submission of the revised forms to OMB, requesting an extension without change. were designated by OMB as improperly submitted.

Agency Response: ATF resubmitted the forms to obtain OMB approval of the revisions. Treasury has assured OMB that ATF will reexamine its internal procedures to ensure future compliance with the PRA.

The PRA requires an agency, before it issues a form asking info from the public, to get approval from OMB and to publish that at the bottom of the form. Every so many years, OMB reviews the forms to see if there is any way the time spent filling them out could be shortened.

Back in the Reagan years I urged NRA and GOA to raise the question when the 4473 came up, and a long list of suggested deletions went to OMB. They did nothing back then (the guy in charge kept saying his wife had been robbed with a gun, as a hint that they were spinning their wheels with him), but there's surely someone else in there today. I just haven't found when the form comes up for renewal, yet.

A Univ. of GA student was attending a pirates vs. ninjas event (I assume a fundraiser), wearing black clothes and with a bandanna over his face. Some ATFE agents, on campus for another event, decided he was suspicion, told him to freeze, and when he ran, tackled him, handcuffed him, and held him for university police ... who of course released him.

Click on the pictures to zoom in. Note how the one agent has the handcuffed student on the ground, with one of the agent's knees on his neck, and what looks like his full body weight on the kid's neck, twisting his head over. I guess they figured that when ninjas are concerned, there is no such thing as excessive force.

House Judiciary, Subcomm. on Crime, Terrorism & Homeland Security, has announced a hearing tommorrow regarding ATFE. The hearing is set for 2 PM on March 28. No witness list on the webpage, and the subject is "Oversight Hearing on The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE): Reforming Licensing and Enforcement Authorities".

Says Uncle has a report on a developing ATFE case in Eastern TN. Not much detail yet, but it sounds as if the argument may, repeat may, be that possession of semiauto parts plus a milling machine equals possession of full auto. (Via Instapundit, which adds another link.

NRA reports that the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold an oversight hearing to investigate apparent wrongdoing by BATFE at a Richmond, VA gun show last August.

According to the WashPo, ATFE's director Carl J. Truscott is in a bit of hot water with Justice leadership. The agency is $19 million over budget, planning to cut spending for bullet-resistant vests and other items ... and it turns out the director was planning to spend over $300,000 to pretty up his headquarters suite. Not to mention was spending about a million a year for bodyguards.

Virginia Citizens Defense League has an interesting report on ATFE gunshow activities in their area. (On their page, click on VA-Alert Archive to get to it). If correct, this would raise major problems as to violation of the Privacy Act, 5 USC 552a (remedies for which include a minimum damage award plus attorneys' fees), not to mention the restrictions on use of data from background checks:

"The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE), who
seem to go out of their way to alienate gun owners with their
heavy-handedness, behaved in a shameful manner this last weekend at
the Showmasters' gun show in Richmond.

I had reports from members of police going to their houses while the
member was waiting for their approval to purchase a gun at the show!
The police asked the spouse and other family members questions about
the purchases and filled in a survey! "Did you know your husband was
going to a gun show today?" "Did you know your husband was going to
buy a gun today?" and many other such questions.

If no one was home at the gun purchaser's house, the police went to
the neighbors! "Did you know that your neighbor was buying a gun
today? How do you feel about him doing so?"

One member, who was carrying a personal gun to sell, was approached
by BATFE and taken to a car while they checked him out. The officer
said in front of Showmasters' management, "Did you know you need a
business license to sell a gun at this show? I have seen you at a
lot of shows - are you in the business of selling guns? I think you
are." That's called a fishing expedition and intimidation. In the
end they let the VCDL member go because their fish hooks came up
empty.

They had over 17 BATFE agents at that show. Richmond and Henrico had
a large number of officers running to the homes of anyone purchasing
a handgun to ask questions.

I guess Mayor Wilder is flush with cash all of a sudden. Too bad he
didn't use that money to put all those cops into the rougher
neighborhoods of Richmond, instead of harassing the decent citizens
who buy guns at a gun show.

And, if you are sitting down, the main BATFE agent at the show told
Showmasters' management that Richmond was going to be the model for
this kind of behavior across the nation!!!

BUT, THERE IS GOOD NEWS.

Steve Elliott, who heads up C&E Gun Shows and is affiliated with
Showmasters, along with Annette Gelles, who heads up Showmasters,
went to Washington with some lawyers to get this straightened out on
Monday. (BTW, Steve told me that he has spent in excess of $10,000
this year on legal fees fighting this kind of abuse.)

Steve and Annette were told by the BATFE in DC that BATFE would no
longer be sending officers to people's houses who were purchasing a
firearm and that what happened in Richmond should not have happened.

We will be watching carefully to see if BATFE keeps its word or not.
Report any such abuse immediately to VCDL, along with the officer's
name, badge number, and department."

UPDATE, from the same source:

For those who question how BATFE/police could pull this off in a
timely fashion: At the gun shows in Richmond, the State Police setup
a NICS check room where ALL the dealers drop off their NICS forms.
Later, the dealers check back to see if the NICS check has been
completed and the forms ready. All BATFE has to do is to grab the
forms as they are dropped off by the dealers, call in the contact
info and have an officer dispatched to the house. That officer
reports results of survey back to dispatcher, who in turn gives it to
BATFE. The form is then approved and released to the dealer the next
time he checks back. It is not unusual to have to wait an hour for
approval, so the average gun owner wouldn't really be alerted to
anything until he got home.

Where the disbelief seems to be coming from is that in many states,
the dealer calls in the NICS check from the show floor. Thus BATFE
would have to be in the booth with the dealer to get the NICS info
and make the dealer hold the form until the survey results were
returned. This would have also alerted dealers as to what was going
on. But that isn't how it's done at Richmond gun shows.

Eric Larson is helping to collect some legislative info supporting H.R. 2088, the "Veterans' Heritage Firearms Act of 2005." He would be interested in any reports (particularly those with hard copy documentation) of ATF seizure and destruction of rare or historical full autos.

A while back, word leaked out of an ATFE training video in which the head of their National Firearms Act Branch (in charge of maintaining registrations of full auto firearms, etc.) had said the the registries had a high error rate, but not to worry, his Branch would always testify that they were 100% correct.

ATFE went to extraordinary lengths to keep the video secret. FOIA requests were denied, and when it came up in Brady motions it moved to seal the record. It apparently forgot to seal the record in one case, and the video got out. Here's a compressed MPEG-4 highlight tape (2.2 megs)

[UPDATE: On the linked page, the video is embedded. You have to wait for it to download (about a minute on hi-speed, or many minutes on dialup) and it should start on its own.]

From Saeid Shafizadeh comes this interesting 6th Circuit ruling. (warning--large pdf file). It's an appeal from a ruling in a Bivens-type civil suit for damages. Gist of it:

1. ATFE's search warrant was invalid. The 4th Amendment requires that a warrant specify the place to be searched and the items to be seized. With regard place, this one specified an entire building, although the items were known to be confined to a special Customs vault in the basement. With regard items to be seized, the warrant said only "see affidavit," and the affidavit was not attached and had been sealed by the court.

2.The agents are not entitled to qualified immunity against suit. That immunity applies when a reasonable law enforcement officer would not have known that what he was doing was unconstitutional. Here, the requirements of specificity are on the face of the 4th Amendment, which has been on the books for a couple of centuries.